LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



THE 

LAWS AND PRINCIPLES 

OF 

WHIST 

STATED AND EXPLAINED 

BY 

"CAVENDISH" 

TWENTY-SECOND EDITION 

The Penn Publishing Company 
X896 



Copyright 1896 by The Penn Publishing Company 



Contents 

PAGE 

The Laws of "Whist 7 

Etiquette of W hist 27 

Cases axd Decisions 30 



Hjstokical 40 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES 



THE FIEST HAND OH LEAD 

Original Leads 68 

Leads from Strong Suits 68 

" Analysis of, in Detail 78 

" FROM Weak Suits 86 

AT Advanced Periods 89 

Retltined Leads 94 



THE SECOND HAND 

Play of the Second Hand . 98 

with Strong Suits ... 98 

" . WITH Sequences 99 

** ^' Analysis of, in Detail • 101 



THE THIED HAND 
Play of the Third Hand when the Lead is from 

Strong Suits 109 

Play of the Third Hand when the Lead is from 

Weak Suits 110 

Fin-essing 109 

V 



vi 



CONTENTS 



THE FOURTH HAND 

PAQB 

Play of the Fourth Hand 114 



The Command of Suits 115 

Unblocking 

Underplay 121 



Discarding 125 



The Conversation of the Game 129 



TRUMPS 

The Management of Trumps • . . 142 

Leading Trumps 143 

Askings for Trumps 150 

Trumping 154 

Forcing 156 



Playing to the Score 159 

Drawing Inferences 159 

Coups 169 



APPENDIX A 
High Card Led, Followed by Low Card 187 



APPENDIX B 
The Unblocking Game 195 



APPENDIX 
The Sub Echo 197 



The Laws of Whist 



BY PERMISSION 

VERBATIl^ KROM T?MB^ CI>XJB CODE) 



THE FOOT NOTES ARE ADDED BY THE AUTHOR 



THE RUBBER 

1. The rubber is the best of three games. If the 
first two games be won by the same players, the third 
game is not played. 

SCORING 

2. A game consists of five points. Each trick, 
above six, counts one point. 

3. Honours, i. e., Ace, King, Queen, and Knave 
of trumps, are thus reckoned : 

If a player and his partner, either separately or 
conjointly, hold — 

I. The four honours, they score four points. 
II. Any three honours, they score two points. 
III. Only two honours, they do not score. 

4. Those players, who, at the commencement of a 
deal, are at the score of four, cannot score honours. 

7 



8 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



5. The penalty for a revoke^ takes precedence of 
all other scores. Tricks score next. Honours last. 

6. Honours, unless clamied before the trump card 
of the foUowmg deal is turned up, cannot be scored. 

7. To score honours is not sufficient ; they must 
be called at the end of the hand; if so called, they 
may be scored at any time during the game. 

8. The winners gain — 

I. A treble, or game of three points, when their ad- 
versaries have not scored. 
II. A double, or game of two points, when their ad- 
versaries have scored less than three. 
III. A single, or game of one point, when their adver- 
saries have scored three, or four. 

9. The winners of the rubber gain two points 
(commonly called the rubber points), in addition to 
the value of their games. 

10. Should the rubber have consisted of three 
games, the value of the losers' game is deducted 
from the gross number of points gained by their op- 
ponents. 

11. If an erroneous score be proved, such mistake 
can be corrected prior to the conclusion of the game 
in which it occurred, and such game is not concluded 
until the trump card of the following deal has been 
turned up. 

1 Vide Law 72. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



9 



12. If an erroneous score, affecting the amount of 
the rubber/ be proved, such mistake can be rectified 
at any time during the rubber. 

CUTTING 

13. The ace is the lowest card. 

14. In aU cases, every one must cut from the same 
pack. 

15. Should a player expose more than one card, 
he must cut again. 

FORMATION OF TABLE 

16. If there are more than four candidates, the 
players are selected by cutting : those first in the 
room having the preference. The four who cut the 
lowest cards play first, and again cut to decide on 
partners ; the two lowest play against the two highest ; 
the lowest is the dealer, who has choice of cards and 
seats, and, having once made his selection, must 
abide by it. 

17. When there are more than six candidates, 
those who cut the two next lowest cards belong to 
the table, which is com2:)lete with six players ; on the 
retirement of one of those six players, the candidate 
who cut the next lowest card has a prior right to any 
aftercomer to enter the table. 

1 e. g. If a single is scored by mistake for a double or treble^ or vice 
versa. 



10 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



CUTTING CARDS OF EQUAL VALUE 

18. Two players cutting cards of equal value/ un- 
less such cards are the two highest, cut again ; should 
they be the two lowest, a fresh cut is necessary to de- 
cide which of those two deals.^ 

19. Three players cutting cards of equal value cut 
again ; should the fourth (or remaining) card be the 
highest, the two lowest of the new cut are partners, 
the lower of those two the dealer ; should the fourth 
card be the lowest, the two highest are partners, the 
original lowest the dealer.^ 

CUTTING OUT 

20. At the end of a rubber, should admission be 
claimed by any one, or by two candidates, he who 
has, or they who have, played a greater number of 

1 In cutting for partners. 

'^Example. A three, two sixes, and a knave are cut. The two sixes cut 
again, and the lowest plays with the three. Suppose at the second cut the 
two sixes cut a king and a queen, the queen plays with the three. 

If at the second cut a lower card than the three is cut, the three still re- 
tains its privileges as original low, and has the deal and choice of cards and 
seats. 

^Example. Three aces and a two are cut. The three aces cut again. 
The two is the original high, and plays with the highest of the next cut. 
, Suppose at the second cut two more twos and a king are drawn. The 
king plays with the original two and the other pair of twos cut again for 
deal. 

Suppose instead, the second cut to consist of an ace and two knaves. 
The two knaves cut again, and the highest plays with the two. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



11 



consecutive rubbers than the others is, or are, out ; 
but when all have played the same number, they 
must cut to decide upon the out-goers ; the highest 
are out. 

ENTRY AND RE-EXTRY 

21. A candidate wishing to enter a table must de- 
clare such intention prior to any of the players hav- 
ing cut a card, either for the purpose of commencing 
a fresh rubber, or of cutting out. 

22. In the formation of fresh tables, those candi- 
dates who have neither belonged to nor played at 
any other table have the prior right of entry; the 
others decide their right of admission by cutting. 

23. Any one quitting a table prior to the conclu- 
sion of a rubber, may, with consent of the other three 
players, appoint a substitute in his absence during 
that rubber. 

24. A player cutting into one table, whilst belong- 
ing to another, loses his right ^ of re-entry into that 
latter, and takes his chance of cutting in, as if he 
were a fresh candidate.^ 

25. If any one break up a table, the remaining 
players have the prior right to him of entry into any 
other, and should there not be sufficient vacancies at 

^i. e., his prior right. 

* And last in the room {vide Law i6). 



12 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



such other table to admit all those candidates, they 
settle their precedence by cutting. 

SHUFFLING 

26. The pack must neither be shuffled below the 
table nor so that the face of any card be seen. 

27. The pack must not be shuffled during the play 
of the hand. 

28. A pack, having been played with, must neither 
be shuffled, by dealing it into packets, nor across the 
table. 

29. Each player has a right to shuffle once only, 
except as provided by Rule 32, prior to a deal, after 
a false cut,^ or when a new deal ^ has occurred. 

30. The dealer's partner must collect the cards for 
the ensuing deal, and has the first right to shuffle 
that pack. 

31. Each player, after shuffling, must place the 
cards, properly collected and face downwards, to the 
left of the player about to deal. 

32. The dealer has always the right to shuffle last ; 
but should a card or cards be seen during his shuf- 
fling or whilst giving the pack to be cut, he may be 
compelled to re-shuffle. 



1 Vide Law 34. 



2 Vide Law 37. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



13 



THE DEAL 

33. Each player deals in his turn ; the right of 
dealing goes to the left. 

34. The player on the dealer's right cuts the pack, 
and in dividing it, must not leave fewer than four 
cards in either packet ; if in cutting, or in replacing 
one of the two packets on the other, a card be ex- 
posed,^ or if there be any confusion of the cards, or 
a doubt as to the exact place in which the pack was 
divided, there must be a fresh cut. 

35. When a player, whose duty it is to cut, has 
once separated the pack, he cannot alter his inten- 
tion ; he can neither re-shuffle nor re-cut the cards. 

36. When the pack is cut, should the dealer shuffle 
the cards, he loses his deal. 

A NEW DEAL 

37. There must be a new deal ^ — 

1. If, during a deal, or during the play of a hand, the 
pack be proved incorrect or imperfect. 
11. If any card, excepting the last, be faced in the 
pack. 

38. If, whilst dealing, a card be exposed by the 
dealer or his partner, should neither of the adversa- 

1 After the two packets have been re-united, Law 38 comes into opera- 
tion. 

* J, tf., the same dealer must deal again. Vide also Laws 47 and 50. 



14 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



ries have touched the cards, the latter can claim a 
new deal ; a card exposed by either adversary gives 
that claim to the dealer, provided that his partner 
has not touched a card ; if a new deal does not take 
place the exposed card cannot be called. 

39. If, during dealing, a player touch any of his 
cards, the adversaries may do the same without los- 
ing their privilege of claiming a new^ deal, should 
chance give them such option. 

40. If, in dealing, one of the last cards be exposed, 
and the dealer turn up the trump before there is rea- 
sonable time for his adversaries to decide as to a 
fresh deal, they do not thereby lose their privilege. 

41. If a player, w^hilst dealing, look at the trump 
card, his adversaries have a right to see it, and may 
exact a new deal. 

42. If a player take into the hand dealt to him a 
card belonging to the other pack, the adversaries, on 
discovery of the error, may decide whether they will 
have a fresh deal or not. 

A MISDEAL 

43. A misdeal loses the deal.^ 

44. It is a misdeal ^ — 



1 Except as provided in Laws 45 and 50. 
^ Vide also Law 36. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



15 



1. Unless the cards are dealt into four packets, one at 
a time in regular rotation, beginning with the 
player to the dealer's left. 
II. Should the dealer place the last (i. e., the trump) 
card, face downwards, on his own, or any other 
pack. 

III. Should the trump card not come in its regular 

order to the dealer ; but he does not lose his 
deal if the pack be proved imperfect. 

IV. Should a player have fourteen^ cards, and either of 

the other three less than thirteen.^ 
V. Should the dealer, under an impression that he has 
made a mistake, either count the cards on the 
table, or the remainder of the pack. 
VI. Should the dealer deal two cards at once, or two 
cards to the same hand, and then deal a third ; 
but if, prior to dealing that third card, the 
dealer can, by altering the position of one card 
only, rectify such error, he may do so, except as 
provided by the second paragraph of this Law. 
Vn. Should the dealer omit to have the pack cut to him, 
and the adversaries discover the error, prior to 
the trump card being turned up, and before 
looking at their cards, but not after having 
done so. 

45. A misdeal does not lose the deal if, during the 
dealing, either of the adversaries touch the cards 
prior to the dealer's partner having done so, but 
should the latter have first interfered with the cards, 



1 Or more. 

8 The pack being perfect. Vide Law 47 



16 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



notwithstanding either or both of the adversaries 
have subsequently done the same, the deal is lost. 

46. Should three players have their right number 
of cards — the fourth have less than thirteen, and not 
discover such deficiency until he has played any of 
his cards,^ the deal stands good; should he have 
played, he is as answerable for any revoke he may 
have made as if the missing card, or cards, had been 
in his hand ; ^ he may search the other pack for it, 
or them. 

47. If a pack, during or after a rubber, be proved 
incorrect or imperfect, such proof does not alter any 
past score, game, or rubber ; that hand in which the 
imperfection was detected is null and void; the 
dealer deals again. 

48. Any one dealing out of turn, or with the ad- 
versary's cards, may be stopped before the trump 
card is turned up, after which the game must pro- 
ceed as if no mistake had been made. 

49. A player can neither shuffle, cut, nor deal for 
his partner, without the permission of his opponents. 

50. If the adversaries interrupt a dealer whilst 
dealing, either by questioning the score or asserting 
that it is not his deal, and fail to establish such 
claim, should a misdeal occur, he may deal again. 

1/. until after he has played to the first trick. 
2 Vide also Law 7a, and Law 44, paragraph iv. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



17 



51. Should a player take his partner's deal, and 
misdeal, the latter is liable to the usual penalty, and 
the adversary next in rotation to the player who 
ought to have dealt then deals. 

THE TRUMP CARD 

52. The dealer, when it is his turn to play to the 
first trick, should take the trump card into his hand : 
if left on the table after the first trick be turned 
and quitted, it is liable to be called ; ^ his partner 
may at any time remind him of the liabilit}' . 

53. After the dealer has taken the trump card into 
his hand, it cannot be asked for ; ^ a player naming it 
at any time during the play of that hand is liable to 
have his highest or lowest trump called.^ 

54. If the dealer take the trump card into his hand 
before it is his turn to play, he may be desired to lay 
it on the table ; should he show a wrong card, this 
card may be called, as also a second, a third, etc., 
until the trump card be produced. 

55. If the dealer declare himself unable to recol- 
lect the trump card, his highest or lowest trump may 
be called at any time during that hand, and, unless 
it cause him to revoke, must be played ; the call may 

1 It is not usual to call the trump card if left on the table. 

2 Any one may inquire what the trump suit is. at any. time. 
2 In the manner described in Law 55. 

2 



18 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



be repeated, but not changed, i. c, from highest to 
lowest, or vice versd^ until such card is played. 

CARDS LIABLE TO BE CALLED 

56. All exposed cards are liable to be called, and 
must be left ^ on the table ; but a card is not an ex- 
posed card when dropped on the floor, or elsewhere 
below the table. 

The following are exposed^ cards: — 

1. Two or more cards plaj^ed at once.^ 
11. Any card dropped with its face upward, or in any 
Avay ex})()8ed on or above the table, even though 
snatched up eo quickly that no one can name it. 

57. If any one play to an imperfect trick the best 
card on the table,* or lead one which is a winning 
card as against his adversaries, and then lead again,^ 
or play several such winning cards, one after the 
other, without waiting for his partner to play, the 
latter may be called on to win, if he can, the first or 
any other of those tricks, and the other cards thus 
im})r()pcrly played are exposed cards. 

^ ]'ace upN\ ar(l. 

" DotaclK cl cards (/. r., cards taken out of the hand but not dropped face 
upwarti on the table, or dropped face downward on the table), are only 
liable to be called, if named ; Law 6o. 

^ If two or nu.re cards are played at once, the adversaries have a right to 
call which they please to the trick in course of play, and atterward to call 
the others. 

■* And then lead without waiting (ov his partner to play^ 
* Without waiting for his partner to play. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



19 



58. If a player, or players, under the impression 
that the game is lost — or won — or for other reasons 
— throw his or their cards on the table face upward, 
such cards are exposed, and liable to be called, each 
player's by the adversary ; but should one player 
alone retain his hand, he cannot be forced to aban- 
don it. 

59. If all four players throw their cards on the 
table face upward, the hands are abandoned ; and no 
one can again take up his cards. Should this gen- 
eral exhibition show that the game might have been 
saved, or won, neither claim can be entertained un- 
less a revoke be established. The revoking players 
are then liable to the following penalties : They can- 
not under any circumstances win the game by the 
result of that hand, and the adversaries may add 
three to their score, or deduct three from that of the 
revoking players. 

60. A card detached from the rest of the hand so 
as to be named, is liable to be called ; but should the 
adversary name a wrong card he is liable to have a 
suit called when he or his partner have the lead.^ 

61. If a player who has rendered himself liable to 
have the highest or lowest of a suit called, fail to 
play as desired, or if when called on to lead one 
Buit, lead another, having in his hand one or more 

1 u e., the first time that side obtains the lead. 



20 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



cards of that suit demanded, he incurs the penalty of 
a revoke. 

62. If any player lead out of turn, his adversaries 
may either call the card erroneously led — or may 
call a suit from him or his partner when it is next 
the turn of either of them ^ to lead. 

63. If any player lead out of turn, and the other 
three have followed him, the trick is complete, and 
the error cannot be rectified ; but if only the second, 
or the second and third, have played to the false 
lead, their cards, on discovery of the mistake, are 
taken back ; there is no penalty against any one, ex- 
cepting the original offender, whose card may be 
called — or he, or his partner, when either of them ^ 
has next the lead, may be compelled to play any suit 
demanded by the adversaries. 

64. In no case can a player be compelled to play a 
card which would oblige him to revoke. 

65. The call of a card may be repeated ^ until such 
card has been played. 

1 i. e., the penalty of calling a suit must be exacted from whichever of 
them next first obtains the lead. It follows that if the player who leads out 
of turn is the partner of the person who ought to have led, and a suit is 
called, it must be called at once from the right leader. If he is allowed to 
play as he pleases, the only penalty that remains is to call the card errone- 
ously led. 

2 i. (?., whichever of them next first has the lead. 

3 At every trick. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



21 



66. If a player called on to lead a suit have none 
of it, the penalty is paid. 

CARDS PLAYED IN EREOR, OR NOT PLAYED TO A 
TRICK 

67. If the third hand play before the second, the 
fourth hand may play before his partner. 

68. Should the third hand not have played, and the 
fourth play before his partner, the latter may be 
called on to win, or not to win the trick. 

69. If any one omit playing to a former trick, and 
such error be not discovered until he has played to 
the next, the adversaries may claim a new deal ; 
should they decide that the deal stand good, the sur- 
plus card at the end of the hand is considered to 
have been played to the imperfect trick but does not 
constitute a revoke therein. 

70. If any one play two cards to the same trick, 
or mix his trump, or other card, with a trick to which 
it does not properly belong, and the mistake be not 
discovered until the hand is played out, he is answer- 
able for all consequent revokes he may have made.^ 
If, during the play of the hand, the error be detected, 
the tricks may be counted face downward, in order to 
ascertain whether there be among them a card too 
many. Should this be the case they may be searched 

1 Vide also Law 46. 



22 



THE LAWS OF ^yHIST 



and the card restored ; the player is, however, liable 
for all revokes which he may have meanwhile made. 

THE REVOKE 

71. Is when a player, holding one or more cards of 
the suit led, plays a card of a different suit.^ 

72. The penalty for a revoke: — 

I. Is at the option of the adversaries, who, at the end 
of tlie hand, may eitlier take thi-ee tricks from the 
revoking player ^ — or deduct three points from his 
score, — or add thi'ee to their own score ; 
II. Can he claimed for as many revokes as occur during 
the hand ; 

III. Is applicable only to the score of the game in which 

it occurs ; 

IV. Cannot be divided, i. e., a player cannot add one or 

two to his own score and deduct one or two from 
the revoking player ; 
V. Takes precedence of every other score, e. g., — the 
claimants two, — their opponents nothing, — the 
former add three to their score — and thereby win 
a treble game, even should the latter have made 
thirteen tricks, and held four honours. 

73. A revoke is established, if the trick in which 
it occur be turned and quitted, i. e., the hand re- 
moved from that trick after it has been turned face 
do^TLward on the table — or if either the revoking 

^ yid£ also Law 6i. 

2 And add them to their own. 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



23 



player or his partner, whether in his right turn or 
otherwise, lead or play to the following trick. 

74. A player may ask his partner whether he 
has not a card of the suit which he has renounced ; 
should the question be asked before the trick is 
turned and quitted, subsequent turning and quitting 
does not establish the revoke, and the error may be 
corrected, unless the question be answered in the 
negative, or unless the revoking player or his partner 
have led or played to the following trick. 

75. At the end of the hand, the claimants of a re- 
voke may search all the tricks.^ 

76. If a player discover his mistake in time to 
save a revoke, the adversaries, whenever they think 
fit, may call the card thus played in error, or may 
require him to play his highest or lowest card to that 
trick in which he has renounced ; any player or 
players who have played after him may withdraw 
their cards and substitute others : the cards with- 
drawn are not liable to be called. 

77. If a revoke be claimed, and the accused player 
or his partner mix the cards before they have been 
sufficiently examined by the adversaries, the revoke 
is established. The mixing of the cards only ren- 
ders the proof of a revoke difficult, but does not pre- 



24 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



vent the claim, and possible establishment, of the 
penalty. 

78. A revoke cannot be claimed after the cards 
have been cut for the following deal. 

79. The revoking player and his partner may, un- 
der all circumstances, require the hand in which the 
revoke has been detected to be played out. 

80. If a revoke occur, be claimed and proved, bets 
on the odd trick, or on amount of score, must be de- 
cided by the actual state of the latter after the pen- 
alty is paid. 

81. Should the players on both sides subject them- 
selves to the penalty of one or more revokes, neither 
can win the game ; each is punished at the discretion 
of his adversary.^ 

82. In whatever way the penalty be enforced, un- 
der no circumstances can a player win the game by 
the result of the hand during which he has revoked ; 
he cannot score more than four. (Vide Rule 61.) 

CALLING FOE NEW CAEDS 

83. Any player (on paying for them) before, but 
not after,the pack be cut for the deal, may call for 
fresh cards. He must call for two new packs, of 
which the dealer takes his choice. 

1 In the manner prescribed in Law 72, 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



25 



GENEKAL RULES 

84. Where a player and his partner have an option 
of exacting from their adversaries one of two penal- 
ties, they should agree who is to make the election, 
but must not consult with one another which of the 
two penalties it is advisable to exact ; if they do so 
consult, they lose their right ; ^ and if either of them, 
with or without consent of his partner, demand a 
penalty to which he is entitled, such decision is 
final. 

This rule does not apply in exacting the penalties for a re- 
voke ; partners have then a right to consult. 

85. Any one during the play of a trick, or after 
the four cards are played, and before, but not after, 
they are touched for the purpose of gathering them 
together, may demand that the cards be placed be- 
fore their respective players. 

86. If any one, prior to his partner playing, should 
call attention to the trick — either by saying that it is 
his, or by naming his card, or, without being required 
so to do, by drawing it toward him — the adversaries 
may require that opponent's partner to play the 
highest or lowest of the suit then led, or to win or 
lose ^ the trick. 

87. In all cases where a penalty has been incurred 

1 To demand any penalty. 
*i. e., refrain from winninj^. 



26 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



the oflfender is bound to give reasonable time for the 
decision of his adversaries. 

88. If a bystander make any remark which calls 
the attention of a player or players to an oversight 
affecting the score, he is liable to be called on, by the 
players only, to pay the stakes and all bets on that 
game or rubber. 

89. A bystander, by agreement among the players, 
may decide any question. 

90. A card or cards torn or marked must be either 
replaced by agreement, or new cards called at the 
expense of the table. 

91. Any player may demand to see the last trick 
turned, and no more. Under no circumstances can 
more than eight cards be seen during the play of the 
hand, viz. : the four cards on the table which have 
not been turned and quitted, and the last trick 
turned. 



Etiquette of Whist 



The following rules belong to the established Eti- 
quette of Whist. They are not called laws, as it is 
difl&cult — in some cases impossible — to apply any 
penalty to their infraction, and the only remedy is 
to cease to play with players who habitually disre- 
gard them. 

Two packs of cards are invariably used at Clubs : 
if possible this should be adhered to. 

Any one, having the lead and several winning 
cards to play, should not draw a second card out of 
his hand until his partner has played to the first 
trick, such act being a distinct intimation that the 
former has played a winning card. 

No intimation whatever, by word or gesture, should 
be given by a player as to the state of his hand, or 
of the game.^ 

A player who desires the cards to be placed, or 
who demands to see the last trick,^ should do it for 
his own information only, and not in order to invite 
the attention of his partner. 

iThe question "Who dealt?" is irregular, and if asked should not be 
answered. 
*Or who asks what the trump suit is. 

27 



28 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



No player should object to refer to a bystander 
who professes himself unmterested in the game, and 
able to decide any disputed question of facts; as to 
who played any particular card — whether honours 
were claimed though not scored, or vice versa — 
etc., etc. 

It is unfair to revoke purposely ; having made a 
revoke, a player is not justified in making a second 
in order to conceal the first. 

Until players have made such bets as they wish, 
bets should not be made with bystanders. 

Bystanders should make no remark, neither should 
they by word or gesture give any intimation of the 
state of the game until concluded and scored, nor 
should they walk around the table to look at the 
different hands. 

No one should look over the hand of a player 
against whom he is betting. 

DUMMY 

Is played by three players. 

One hand, called Dummy's, lies exposed on the 
table. 

The laws are the same as those of Whist, with the 
following exceptions : — 

I. Dummy deals at the commencement of each rubber. 
II. Dummy is not liable to the penalty for a revoke, as 



THE LAWS OF WHIST 



29 



his adversaries see his cards ; should he ^ revoke 
and the error not be discovered until the trick is 
turned and quitted, it stands good.- 
m. Dummy being bhnd and deaf, his partner is not 
liable to any penalty for an error whence he can 
gain no advantage. Thus, he may expose some, 
or all of his cards, or may declare that he has the 
game, or trick, etc., without incurring any pen- 
alty ; if, however, he lead from Dummy's hand 
when he should lead from his own, or vice versa, 
a suit may be called from the -hand which ought 
to have led. 

DOUBLE DOBIY 

Is played by two players, each having a Dummy or 
exposed hand for his partner. The laws of the game 
do not diflfer from Dummy Whist, except in the fol- 
lowing special law : There is no misdeal, as the deal 
is a disadvantage. 

^i. <?.; Dummy's hand. If Dummy's partner revokes, he is Hable to the 
usual penalties. 

2 And the hand proceeds as though the revoke had not been discovered . 



Cases AND Decisions 



Card laws are intended to effect two objects : 1. To 
preserve the harmony and determine the ordering of 
the table. Such^ for example, are the laws in the 
previous code, which regulate scoring, cutting, shuf- 
fling, etc., and the miscellaneous rules included under 
the head of Etiquette. 2. To prevent any player 
from obtaining an unfair advantage. 

The word " unfair " must be taken in a restricted 
sense. It does not mean intentional unfairness. 
This is not to be dealt with by laws, but by ex- 
clusion from the card table. In deciding cases of 
card law, the offender should be credited with bona 
fides. It follows from this, that offenses should not 
be judged by the intention of the player, but by the 
amount of injury which his irregularity may inflict 
on the opponents. 

In a perfect code, there should be a penalty for all 
errors or irregularities, by which the player commit- 
ting them, or his side, might profit ; and on the other 
hand there should be no penalty for errors by which he 
who commits them, cannot possibly gain an advantage. 

Penalties should be proportioned as closely as pos- 
sible to the gain which might ensue to the offender. 
For instance : if the third hand has not played and 

30 



WHIST 



31 



the fourth plays before his partner, the second hand 
is informed whether or not his partner is likely to 
win the trick. The law, therefore, provides that the 
adver.-^aries shall be entitled to call on the second 
player either to win the trick, or not to win it, which- 
ever they please. Say, the fourth hand plays an ace 
out of turn. The second hand may be required to 
win the trick. If he has none of the suit he must 
trump it. In the opposite case, if the fourth hand 
plays a small card, and the second is called on not 
to win the trick, he must play a small card also. In 
this manner the second player is prevented from 
benefiting by the irregular information afforded 
him. Other offenses are legislated against in a simi- 
lar way, the point kept in view throughout being, 
that no player shall be allowed to profit by his own 
wrongdoing. 

However carefully a code is drawn up, it will not 
unfrequently happen in practice, that cases occur 
which are but imperfectly provided for. Such cases 
should be referred for decision to some arbitrator. 
The arbitrator will find himself materially assisted 
by keeping well before him the two great objects 
with which the laws have been framed. 

The following general rules will also be found useful 
in guiding him to just decisions : 

Where two or more players are in fault, it should 



32 



WHIST 



be considered with whom the first fault lies, and how 
far it induced or invited the subsequent error of the 
adversary. 

Questions of fact should be settled before the case 
is referred, either by a majority of the players, or, if 
they are divided in opinion, by an onlooker agreed 
to by both parties, the decision of this referee being 
final. 

When the facts are agreed to they should be writ- 
ten down, and the written statement submitted to 
the judge, who should return a written answer. 

Should it so happen that a case is referred, wherein 
the players are divided in opinion as to the facts, the 
arbitrator will do well to decline to give a decision. 
The disputants, however, may be reminded that the 
player v/hom it is proposed to punish is entitled to 
the benefit of reasonable doubt. 

Questions of interpretation of law should be de- 
cided liberally, in accordance with the spirit rather 
than the letter of the law. On the other hand, the 
arbitrator should bear in mind the great inconveni- 
ence of a lax interpretation of card laws, and, having 
made up his mind as to the intention of the law, 
should decide all cases with the utmost strictness. 

The following cases, with decisions, selected from 
a large number which have been brought under the 
author's notice as having occurred in actual play, 



WHIST 



33 



are given in exemplification of the foregoing re- 
marks. 

CASE I 

The play of the hand shows that AB (partners) 
hold no honour. The hand is therefore abandoned 
and the adversaries (YZ) score the game. It is then 
discovered that Y has only twelve cards, and one of 
the honours is found on the floor. AB then object to 
the score on the ground that YZ only " held " three 
honours (^vide LaAV 3). 

Decision — YZ are entitled to score four by honours. 
Y is not obliged to play with his cards in his hand. 
Besides, the game having been abandoned, Law 59 
comes into operation. The penalty for playing with 
twelve cards is laid down in Law 46. Y is liable for 
any revoke he may have made. 

CASE II 

AB claim the game " and score it. After the 
trump card of the following deal is turned up, YZ 
object that AB have not claimed honours (vide Laws 
6 and 7). 

Decision — The honours were claimed within the 
meaning of the law. The objection to the score, if 
made really in ignorance of how it accrued, should 
have been taken at once. YZ should not wait the 
completion of the deal, so as to entrap AB on a mere 
technicality. 
3 



34 



WHIST 



Xote. This is a good instance of interpretation in 
accordance with the spirit of the law. Laws should 
never be so construed as to inflict a wholly unneces- 
sary wrong, as would happen in this case were the 
law insisted on literally. The intention of Law 7 is 
to require AB to draw attention to the claim ; and 
this is sufficiently done by the claim of *' the game.*' 

CASE III 

Y throws down his hand and claims " the game.*' 
B (Y's adversary) thinking that Y is referring only 
to the tricks, says, ** You are not game.'' Y then 
marks four. After the trump card of the following 
deal is turned up. A remarks. if Y had scored his 
honours he would have been game.** Y then claims 
the game on the ground that he made the claim in 
time, and only withdrew it in consequence of B*s 
contradiction. Is Y entitled to score the game ? 

Decision — No. Y's claim of " the game ** is irregu- 
lar. He is bound to state in what vray he wins it 
(vide Law 6). There is no evidence that Y was re- 
ferring to his honours when he claimed the game, but 
rather the contrary, as he afterwards withdrew his 
claim and said nothing about honours. 

Note. This is an example of two players being in 
fault. It seems hard on Y that he should sutler 



WHIST 



35 



through B's mistake ; but it must be borne in mind 
that the confusion was introduced by Y's own irregu- 
larity, and that the omission to score honours was due 
to his subsequent forgetfuhiess. 

Compare with Case II.' 

CASE IV 

At the conclusion of the deal the trump card 
comes to the hand on the dealer's left. The dealer 
requests the players to count their cards. The player 
to the dealer's left appropriates a packet of cards 
lying a little to his own right hand, between himself 
and the dealer, and finds twelve cards in it. The 
other hands each contain thirteen. The dealer now 
claims the hand with twelve cards in it as his hand. 
Must the players accept the hands thus given to them, 
or is it a misdeal ? 

Decision — It is a misdeal. The fault is entirely 
with the dealer. If he deals so carelessly that there 
is any doubt as to the ownership of the hands, he 
must apportion them, and having once done so, he 
must not shift the hands about, so as to make a hand 
with twelve cards in it fall to himself. 

CASE V 

Y throws down his cards, remarking, " We have 
lost the game." On this A and B (Y's advei'saries) 



36 



WHIST 



throw down their cards. Z retains his hand. AB 
plead that they were misled by Y and that therefore 
they are not liable to Law 58. 

Decision — A's, Y's, and B's hands are exposed, and 
must be left on the table to be called, each player's 
by the adversary. Z is not bound to abandon the 
game because his partner chooses to do so. Conse- 
quently Y' s remark does not bind Z. A and B ought 
to keep up their cards until they have ascertained 
that both adversaries have abandoned the game. 

Note. The written law is sufficient to decide this 
case (vide Law 58) ; but inasmuch as the irregularity 
in question is a fertile source of disputes, the case 
has been deemed worthy of insertion. 

CASE YI 

When it comes to the last trick of a hand, it ap- 
pears that the player who has to lead has no card. 
What is to be done ? 

Decision — (a) If either of the other players remains 
with two cards, it is a misdeal (vide Law 44, para- 
graph iv). (b) If the other players have their right 
number of cards, the missing card should be searched 
for (vide Law 70) and when found assigned to the 
leader, who is liable to Law 46. (c) If the missing 
card cannot be found the tricks may be searched to 
find what card is wanting, and the absent card as- 



WHIST 



37 



sumed to have belonged to the player who had but 
twelve cards. 

Note. It may seem that decision c is severe on a 
player playing bond fide with an imperfect pack. But 
each player should protect himself by counting his 
hand before he plays. His playing to the first trick 
signifies his acceptance of the hand. If he accepts 
an imperfect one he must take the consequences. 

CASE VII 

Towards the end of a hand a spade is led. The 
third hand, when it comes to his turn to play, lays 
down the ace of trumps (hearts) and says, " There's 
the game." He then throws his hand on the table. 
The hand contains several spades. Is it a revoke ? 

Decision — It is a question of fact. If the card was 
exposed in order to save time, it is not a revoke. But 
if the ace of trumps was pla}^ed to the trick, it is a 
revoke, the subsequent throwing down of the cards 
being an act of play, equivalent to playing to the fol- 
lowing trick (vide Law 73). 

CASE VIII 

The adversary cuts the pack to the dealer, but 
without his consent, i, 6., without the dealer's pre- 
senting it to be cut. Is it too late to claim a revoke 
in the previous hand? (vide Law 78). 



38 



WHIST 



Decision — It is too late for the player who cut or 
for his partner to claim a revoke, but not too late for 
the adversaries. 

CASE IX 

A player revokes, and on discovering the revoke 
before the hand is played out, says in explanation, 
" I never saw the card ; it was hidden behind my 
king of diamonds " — the king of diamonds being still 
in his hand. 

Decision — The king of diamonds is constructively 
an exposed card, and the adversaries may require 
that it be laid on the table to be called. 

CASE X 

Y leads out of turn. B (Y's adversary) says to his 
partner, ^' Shall we call a suit or not ?" B's partner 
gives no answer. Is the asking the question a con- 
sultation within the meaning of Law 84, although no 
answer is made to it ? 

Decision — Yes. It is the very question Law 84 
is framed to prevent. B by the question shows that 
he is in doubt as to the policy of calling a suit, and 
thus affords information he has no right to give. 
Further than this, a reply by word of mouth is not 
necessary to constitute a consultation. Silence is an 
answer, The knowledge that a partner is indifFer- 



WHIST 



39 



ent may convey information that B has no right to 
extract. 

Note. The usual formula is, Will you elect the 
penalty, or shall I ?" This question does not bring 
the player under the operation of Law 84. 

CASE XI 

A leads and the other three players follow suit. 
A plays another card (it not being his lead) and pro- 
ceeds to gather the five cards into one trick. On be- 
ing told of it, A explains that his attention has been 
diverted, and that he thought he had not played to 
the trick. The adversaries claim to be entitled to the 
penalties for leading out of turn, on the ground that 
the penalty should depend, not on the actual inten- 
tion of the player, but on his possible intention. 

Decision — A has not led out of turn ; he has merely 
exposed a card. The abstract principle pleaded by 
the adversaries is quite sound, but it does not apply 
to this case. A's word must be taken as correctly 
representing the fact that he played a second time to 
one trick. 



Whist 



HISTOKICAL . 

The early history of Whist is involved in obscurity. 

All games of high character become perfected by de- 
grees; and Whist, following this rule, has been 
formed b}^ gradual development. As early as the 
beginning of the sixteenth century, a card game 
called triumph or trump was commonly played in 
England. This game in its chief feature, viz., the 
predominance of one particular suit, and in its gen- 
eral construction, was so similar to Whist, that no 
one can doubt it to have been the game from which 
Whist grew. 

There were two distinct games called trump. Ti^i- 
omphe or French ruff was very like ecarte, only there 
was no scoie for the king ; Trump, or English ruff- 
and-honours closely resembled Whist. 

Berni Q^Capitolo del Gioco della Prim^era,^^ Rome, 
1526)j enumerates several games at cards ; among 
them are trionfi, played by the peasants ; and ronfa, 
the invention of which is attributed to King Ferd- 
inand. 

Triumphus Hispanicus is the subject of a Dia- 
40 



WHIST 



41 



logiie " written in Latin and French by Vives, a 
Spaniard (d. 1541). 

La triomphe and la ronfle are included by Rabelais 
(first half of sixteenth century) in the long list of some 
two hundred and thirty games played by Gargantua. 

In " A Worlde of Wordes or Most copious and 
exact Dictionarie in Italian and English collected by 
John Florio, 1598/' ronfa is defined as a game at 
cardes called ruffe or trumpe and under trionfo he 
gives " triimph. * * * Also a tramp at cards, or the 
play called trump or ruff^ 

There is no evidence to show whether the above 
refer to the foreign or native form of trump. Douce, 
in his " Illustrations of Shakespeare," 1839, con- 
cludes, from finding la triomphe in Rabelais' list, that 
the game of trump was in all probability derived 
from a French source. But it seems more likely from 
the non-appearance of English ruff*-and-honours in 
the Academic des Jeux, and from the distinction 
drawn in Cotton's Compleat Gamester " between 
"English ruff-and-honours " and French ruff " (la 
triomphe of the Academic), that the game referred to 
by Berni, Vives, Rabelais, and Florio, is not English 
ruff-and-honours, for which an English origin (as 
the name implies) may be claimed. 

How and when trump or English ruff-and-hon- 
ours originated cannot now be ascertained. It was 



42 



WHIST 



played at least as early as the time of Henry VIIT, 
for it was taken by Latimer to illustrate his text, in 
the first of two sermons Of the Card," preached by 
him at Cambridge, in Advent, about the year 1529. 
He mentions the game under its original and cor- 
rupted appellations, and clearly alludes to its char- 
acteristic feature, as the following extract will show. 

''And where you are wont to celebrate Christ mass in play- 
ing at Cards, I intend, with God's grace, to deal unto you 
Christ's Cards, wherein you shall perceive Christ's Eule. 
The game that we play at shall be the Triumph, which, if it 
be well played at, he that dealeth shall win ; the Players 
shall likewise win, and the slanders and lookers upon shall 
do the same. ^ You must mark also, that the Triumph 
must apply to fetch home unto him all the other Cards, what- 
soever suit they be of. * * Then further we must say to 
ourselves, ' What requireth Christ of a Christian man ?' Now 
turn up your Trump, your Heart (Hearts is Trump, as I said 
before) and cast your Trump, your Heart, on this card." 

Later in the century trump is often referred to. In 
" Gammer Gurton's Nedle, made by Mr. S., Mr of 
Art [Bishop Still] 1575," the second piece performed 
in England under the name of a comedy (performed 
at Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1566), Old Dame 
Chat thus invites some friends to a game : 

Chat. What diccon : come nere, ye be no straunger, 

We be fast set at trumpe man, hard by the fyre, 
Thou shalt set on the king, if thou come a htte nyer. 
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



WHIST 



43 



Come hether, Dol, Dol, sit downe and play this game, 
And as thou sawest me do, see thou do even the same 
There is 5. trumps beside the Queene, hindmost 

y'^ shalt finde her 
Take hede of Sim glover's wife, she hath an eie be- 
hind her." 

In Eliot's Fruits for the French " (1593), trump 
is called " a verie common alehouse game and 
Rice, in his Invective against Vices " (printed be- 
fore 1600), observes that " renouncing the trompe 
and comming in againe " (i. e., revoking intention- 
ally), is a common sharper's trick. Decker, in The 
Belman of London" (1608), speaks of "thedeceites 
practised (euen in the fairest and most ciuill com- 
panies) at Primero, Saint, Maw, Tromp, and such 
like games." 

The game of trump is also mentioned by Shakes- 
peare in '^Antony and Cleopatra," Act iv, scene 12 
(first published 1623). 

"Ant. My good knave, Eros, now thy Captain is 
Even such a body ; here am I Antony ; 
Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. 
I made these wars for Egypt ; and the Queen — 
Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine ; 
Which, w^hilst it w^as mine, had annex'd unto 't 
A million more, now lost, — she, Eros, has 
Packed cards with Caesar, and false-played my glory 
Unto an enemy's triumph." 

The punning allusions to cards in this passage 



44 



WHIS.T 



point to the conclusion that the word ''triumph'' 
refers to the game of trump. This seems to have 
been first noticed by Douce, who adds, the term 
indicates a winning or triumphant card.'' 

There is abundant evidence to sliow that trump 
is a corruption of the word triumph. In addition to 
the instances akeady given, the following may be 
quoted : In Cotgrave's Dictionarie of the French 
and English Tongve *" (1611), Triomphe is explained 
as " the Card-game called Ruffe or Trurnp ; also the Ruffe 
or Trurnp at Minsheu, in " The Guide unto 

Tongues" (1617), gives '' The Trumpe in ccrrdes. 
Triornfn. Ha diet : quod de ceteris chartis triumphare 
videatur, q^jod illis sit pr^stnntior.'^ Seymour, in his 
Court Gamester'" (1719), says—" The Term Trump 
comes from a Corruption of the Word Triumph : for 
wherever they are. they are attended with Conquest.'' 
Ash (" Dictionary, 1775 *") has *' Triumph (s. from the 
Lat. triumphus). ^ ^ ^ X conr|uering card, a 
trump ; but this sense is now become obsolete. Trump 
{s.from triumph).*' 

The derivation of the word r'/ff or ruffe has caused 
much speculation. The previous quotations show 
that it is the same word as ronfa (Ital.) and ronfle 
(Ft.), and that it is synonymous with the Englisli 
triumph or trump. Even at the present day many 
Whist players speak of rufhng, /. e., trumping; and, 



WHIST 



45 



in the expression a cross-ruff, the word ruff is pre- 
served to the exclusion of the word trump. 

The game of ruff-and-honourSj if not the same as 
trump or ruff, was probably the same game, with 
the addition of certain advantages to the four highest 
cards of the trump suit. Rabelais includes in his 
list a game called " les Honneurs,^^ but whether it 
had any affinity to ruff-and-honours is doubtful. In 
" Shufiing, Cutting, and Dealing, in a Game at Pick- 
quet: being Acted from the Year, 1653 to 1658. By 
O. P. [Oliver Protector] and others ; With great Ai> 
plause." (1659), the " Old Foolish Christmas Game 
with Honours " is mentioned. Some writers are of 
opinion that trump was originally played without 
honours ; but as no description of trump without 
honours is known to exist, their view must l^e 
regarded as conjectural. In 1674 was published 
" The Compleat Gamester : or Instructions how to 
play at Billiards, Trucks, Bowls, and Chess. Together 
with all manner of usual and most Gentile Games, 
either on Cards or Dice." [By Charles Cotton.] Cotton 
gives a drawing of the game of " Whist," and thus 
describes Ruff and Honours: — 

^^Xt Ruff and Honours, by some called Slamm, you have 
in the Pack all the Deuces, and the reason is, because four 
pla>4ng having dealt twelve a piece, there are four left for 



46 



WHIST 



the Stock, the uppermost whereof is turned up, and that is 
Trumps, he that hath the Ace of that Ruffs ; that is, he takes 
in those four Cards, and lays out four others in their Ueu ; 
the four Honours are the Ace, King, Queen, and Knave ; he 
that hath three Honours in his own hand, his partner not 
having the fourth sets up Eight by Cards, that is two tricks ; 
if he hath all four, then Sixteen, that is four tricks ; it is all 
one if two Partners make them three or four between them, 
as if one had them. If the Honours are equally divided 
among the Gamesters of each side, then they say Honours 
are split. If either side are at Eight Groats he hath the 
benefit of calling Can-ye, if he hath two Honours in his hand, 
and if the other answers one, the Game is up, which is nine 
in all, but if he hath more than two he shows them, and 
then it is one and the same thing ; but if he forgets to call 
after playing a trick, he loseth the advantage of Can-ye for 
that deal. 

All Cards are of value as they are superiour one to an- 
other, as a Ten wins a Nine if not Trumps, so a Queen, a 
Knave in like manner ; but the least Trump will win the 
highest Card of any other Card [suit] ; where note the Ace 
is the highest." 

This game was clearly Whist in an imperfect 
form. Whist is not mentioned by Shakespeare, nor 
by any writer (it is believed) of the Elizabethan era. 
It is probable that the introduction of the name 
whist or ivhisk took i^lace early in the seventeenth 
century. 

The first knowai appearance of the word in print 
is in the " Motto of Taylor, the Water Poet (1621). 



WHIST 



47 



Taylor spells the word whisk. Speaking of the 
prodigal, he says : — 

" The ProdigaVs estate, like to a flux, 
The Mercer, Draper, and the Silkman sucks : 

■K- -K- * ^ * * 

He flings his money free with carelessnesse : 

At Novum, Mumchance, mischance, (chuse ye which) 

At One and Thirty, or at Poore and rich, 

Eufle, slam, Trump, nody, whisk, hole, Sant, New-cut." 

The word continued to be spelt whisk for about 
forty years. The earliest known use of the present 
spelling is in Hudibras the Second Part " (spurious) 
published in 1663 :— 

But what was this ? A Game at Whist 
Unto our Ploivden- Canonist 

After this, the word is spelt indifferently, whisk or 
whist. In ^'The Compleat Gamester" (1674 and 
subsequent editions) Cotton says, under playing the 
cards at " Picket," " the elder begins and younger fol- 
lows in suit as at Whisk." But he uses the other 
spelling in his chapter on the game itself He ob- 
serves, " Ruff and Honours (alias Slamm) and Whist, 
are Games so commonly known in England in all 
parts thereof, that every Child almost of Eight 
Years old hath a competent knowledge in that recre- 
ation." 

After describing ruff-and-honours (see the passage 



48 



WHIST 



quoted, pp. 45, 46), Cotton adds, Whist is a game 
not much differing from this, only they put out the 
Deuces and take in no stock ; and is called Whist 
from the silence that is to be observed in the play ; 
they deal as before, playing four, two of a side ^ * ^ 
to each Twelve a piece, and the Trump is the bottom 
Card. The manner of crafty playing, the number of 
the Game Nine, Honours and dignity of other Cards 
are all alike, and he that wins most tricks is most for- 
ward to win the set." 

Cotton's work was afterwards incorporated with 
Seymour's Court -Gamester (first published 1719). 
The earlier editions contain no Whist, but after the 
two books were united (about 1734), Seymour says, 
^' Whist, vulgarly called whisk. The original denom- 
ination of this game is Whist, [here Seymour is mis- 
taken] or the silent game at cards." And again, 
" Talking is not allowed at Whist ; the very word 
implies ' Hold your Tongue.' " 

Dr. Johnson does not positively derive Whist from, 
the interjectio silentium imperans ; he cautiously ex- 
plains Whist to be " a game at cards, requiring close 
attention and silence." Nares, in his " Glossary," has 
" Whist, an interjection commanding silence;" and 
he adds, " That the name of the game of Whist is 
derived from this, is known, I presume, to all who 
play or do not play." Skeat (" Etymological Diction- 



WHIST 



49 



ary of the English Language, 1882 ") gives, "Whist, 
hush, silence ; a game at cards H< ^ named 
from the silence requisite to play it attentively." 

Chatto, however, (Facts and Speculations on the 
Origin and History of Playing Cards, 1848), suggests 
that whisk is derived by substitution from ruff, both 
of them signifying a piece of lawn used as an orna- 
ment to the dress. 

The best modern etymologists are of opinion that, 
whisk and whist, being, like whisper, whistle, wheeze, 
hush and hist, words of imitative origin, it makes 
no difference which form is first found. So the re- 
ceived derivation from silence, having a good deal of 
evidence in its favour, may be accepted until some 
more conclusive arguments than Chatto's are brought 
against it. 

While Whist was undergoing the changes of name 
and character already specified, there was for a time 
associated with it another title, viz., swabbers or 
swobbers. Fielding, in his History of the life of 
the late Mr. Jonathan Wild, the Great," records that 
when the ingenious Count La Ruse was domiciled 
with Mr. Geoffrey Snap, in 1682, or, in other words, 
was in a spunging-house, the Count beguiled the 
tedium of his in-door existence by playing at W^hisk- 
and-Swabbers, " the game then in the chief vogue." 
Swift, in " The Intelligencer " (No. v, Dublin, 1728), 
4 



50 



WHIST 



ridicules Archbishop Tenison for not understanding 
the meaning of swabbers. There is a known Story 
of a Clergy-Man^ who was recommended for a Pre- 
ferment by some great Man at Court, to A. B. C'T. 
His Grace said, he had heard that the Clergy-Man 
used to play at Whisk and Swobbers, that as to play- 
ing now and then a Sober Game at Whisk for pas- 
time, it might be pardoned, but he could not digest 
those wicked Swobbers, and it was with some pains 
that my Lord S rs could undeceive him." John- 
son defines swobbers as four privileged cards used 
incidentally in betting at Whist." In Captain Fran- 
cis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar 
Tongue" (1785), swabbers are stated to be The 
ace of hearts, knave of clubs, ace and duce of trumps 
at Whist." The Hon. Daines Barrington (writing in 
1786) says that at the beginning of the century, 
whisk was " played with what were called Swabbers, 
which were possibly so termed, because they, who 
had certain cards in their hand, were entitled to 
take up a share of the stake, independent of the gen- 
eral event of the game." This was probably the true 
office of the swabbers, the etymology of the word 
showing it to be allied to sweep, swoop, swab, swap, 
and to be first cousin to sweepstakes. Swabbers soon 
went out of general use, but they may still linger in 
some local coteries. R. B. Wormald writes thus re- 



WHIST 



51 



specting them in 1873 : — Being driven by stress of 
weather to take shelter in a sequestered hostelry on 
the Berkshire bank of the Thames, he found four 
persons immersed in the game of Whist : " In the 
middle of the hand, one of the players, with a grin 
that almost mounted to a chuckle, and a vast display 
of moistened thumb, spread out upon the table the 
ace of trumps ; whereupon the other three deliber- 
ately laid down their hands, and forthwith severally 
handed over the sum of one penny to the fortunate 
holder of the card in question. On enquiry, we were 
informed that the process was technically known as 
a ^ swap ' (qy. swab or swabber), and was de rigueur 
in all properly constituted whist circles." 

After the swabbers were dropped (and it is proba- 
ble that they were not in general use in the eigh- 
teenth century), our national card game became 
known simply as Whist, though still occasionally 
spelt whisk. The Hon. Daines Barrington (''Archse- 
ologia," Vol. viii) says that Whist in its infancy was 
chiefly confined to the servants' hall. That the 
game had not yet become fashionable is evident from 
the disparaging way in which it is referred to by 
writers of the period. In Farquhar's comedy of 
" The Beaux's Stratagem '' (1707), Mrs. Sullen, a fine 
lady from London, speaks in a contemptuous vein 
of the rural Accomplishments of drinking fat Ale, 



52 



WHIST 



playing at Whisk, and smoaking Tobacco." Pope 
also classes Whist as a country squire's game, in his 
Epistle to Mrs. Teresa Blount" (1715) — 

Some Squire, perhaps, you take delight to rack, 
Whose game is Whisk, whose treat a toast in sack." 

Thomson, in his " Autumn " (1730), describes how 
after a heavy hunt dinner — 

Perhaps a while, amusive, thoughtful Whisk 
Walks gentle round, beneath a cloud of smoak, 
Wreath'd, fragrant, from the pipe." 

Early in the century the points of the game rose 
from nine to ten ('' nine in all," Cotton, 1709 ; ^' ten 
in all," Cotton, 1721 ; nine in all," Cotton, 1725 ; 

ten in all," Seymour, 1734, rectified according to 
the present standard of play"). Every subsequent 
edition of Seymour (with which Cotton was incor- 
porated) makes the game ten up. It seems likely 
that, simultaneously with this change, or closely fol- 
lowing it, the practice of playing with the entire pack 
instead of with but forty-eight cards obtained. This 
improvement introduced the odd trick, an element of 
the greatest interest in modern Whist. 

At this period (early part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury) there was a mania for card-playing in all parts 
of Europe, and in all classes of society, but Whist 
h^,d not as yet found favour in the highest circles. 



WHIST 



53 



Piquet, Ombre, and Quadrille, were the principal 
games of the fashionable world. But about 1728 
the game of Whist rose out of its comparative ob- 
scurity. 

A party of gentlemen (according to Daines Barring- 
ton), of whom the first Lord Folkestone was one, 
used at this date to frequent the Crown Coffee-house, 
in Bedford Row, where they studied Whist scientifi- 
cally. They must have made considerable progress 
in the game, to judge by the following rules which 
they laid down : — Lead from the strong suit ; study 
your partner's hand ; and attend to the score." 

Shortly after this, the celebrated Edmoxd Hoyle, 
the father of the game, published his " Short Treat- 
ise " (1742-3). About Hoyle's antecedents, but little 
is known. He was born in 1672 ; it is said he was 
educated for the bar. It has been stated that he was 
born in Yorkshire, but this is doubtful. At all events, 
the author, by personal enquiry, has positively ascer- 
tained that he did not belong to the family of York- 
shire Hoyles, who acquired estates near Halifax temp. 
Edward HI. It has also been stated that Hoyle was 
appointed registrar of the prerogative court at Dublin, 
in 1742. This, however, is unlikely. At that time, 
Hoyle was engaged in writing on games, and in giv- 
ing lessons in Whist, and he was probably living in 
London. At all events, the only known genuine copy 



54 



WHIST 



of the first edition of the " Short Treatise " (in the 
Bodleian), was published in London; and Hoyle 
afterwards resided in Queen Square. The name Ed- 
mund or Edmond is common in both the Yorkshire 
and Irish families of Hoyle ; and probably one Hoyle 
has been mistaken for another. 

Internal evidence shows that Hoyle originally drew 
up notes for the use of his pupils. His early editions 
speak of Purchasers of the Treatise in Manuscript, 
disposed of the last Winter," and further state that 
the author of it has fram'd an Artifickd Memory^ 
which takes not off your Attention from your Game ; 
and if required, he is ready to communicate it, upon 
Payment of one Guinea. And also. He will explain 
any Cases in the Book, upon Payment of one Guinea 
more." The cheap spurious editions lament that 
there was " a Treatise on the Game of Whist lately 
dispersed among a few Hands at a Guinea Price ;" 
that it was to be procured with no small difficulty ; 
and that the public lay under imposition and hard- 
ship in not being able to get the book under a guinea, 
and by its being reserved only in a few hands. 

No doubt, the circulation of these surreptitious 
copies induced Hoyle to print the manuscript;and to 
register the Short Treatise " at Stationers' Hall, in 
November, 1742. 

The treatise ran through five editions in one year, 



WHIST 



55 



and it is said that Hoyle received a large sum for the 
copyright. This last statement, however, requires 
verification ; at all events, Hoyle continued for years 
to sign every copy personally, as the proprietor of the 
copyright. This was done in order to protect the 
property from further piracy, as the address to the 
reader shows. 

The following is a fac-simile of Hoyle's signature, 
taken from the fourth edition : — 




In the fifteenth edition the signature is impressed 
from a wood block, and in the seventeenth it was an- 
nounced that Mr. Hoyle was dead. He died in Wel- 
bank (Welbeck) Street, Cavendish Square, in August, 
1769, at the reputed age of 97. 

One effect of Hoyle's publication was to draw forth 
a witty skit, entitled "The Humours of Whist. A 
Dramatic Satire, as Acted every Day at Whitks and 
other Coffee-Houses and Assemblies'^ (1743). The 
pamphlet commences with an advertisement mimick- 
ing Hoyle's address to the reader. The prologue to 
the play is supposed to be spoke by a waiter at 
White's!" 



56 



WHIST 



" Who will believe that Man could e'er exist, 
Who spent near half an Age in studying Whi^f 
Grew gray with Calculation — Labour hard ! 
As if Life's Business center'd in a Card ? 

That such there is, let me to those appeal. 
Who with such liberal Hands reward his Zeal. 
Lo ! Whist he makes a science, and our Peers 
Deign to turn School Boys in their riper Years." 

The principal characters are Professor Whiston 
(Hoyle), who gives lessons in the game of Whist ; Sir 
Calculation Puzzle, a passionate admirer of Whist, 
who imagines himself a good player, yet always loses ; 
Sharpers, Pupils of the Professor, and Cocao, Master 
of the Chocolate-house. The sharpers are disgusted 
at the appearance of the book. 

" Lurchum. Thou knowest we have the Honour to be ad- 
mitted into the best Company, which neither our Birth nor 
Fortunes entitle us to, merely for our Reputation as good 
TiTto-Players. 

Shuffle. Very well ! 

Lurch. But if this dam'd Book of the Professor's answers, 
as he pretends, to put Players more upon a Par, what will 
avail our superior Skill in the Game ? We are undone to all 
Intents and Purposes. * -5^ * We must bid adieu to 
Whitens, George^Sj Brown^s, and all the polite Assemblies 
about Town, and that's enough to make a Man mad instead 
of thoughtful. 

Shuf. Damn him, I say, — Could he find no other Employ- 
ment for forty Years together, than to study how to cir- 
cumvent younger Brothers, and such as us, who live by our 



WHIST 



57 



Wits ? A man that discovers the Secrets of any Profession 
deserves to be sacrificed, and I would be the first, Lurchum, 
to cut the Professor's Throat for what he has done, but that 
I think I have pretty well defeated the malevolent Efiect of 
his fine-spun Calculations. 

Lurch. As how, dear Shuffle f Thou revivest me. 

Shuf. I must confess the Publication of his Treatise gave 
me at first some slight Alarm ; but I did not, like thee, Lur- 
chum, indulge in melancholy desponding Thoughts : On the 
contrary, I called up my Indignation to my Assistance, and 
have ever since been working upon a private Treatise on 
Sign% at Whist, by way of counter Treatise to his, and which, 
if I mistake not, totally overthrows his System.'' 

On the other hand, the gentlemen are in raptures. 

''Sir Calculaiion Puzzle. The progress your Lordship has 
made for the time you have study'd under the Professor is 
wonderfalT—Pray, has your Lordship seen the dear Man to- 
day? 

Lord Slim. O yes. — His Grace sate him down at my House, 
and I have just lent him my Chariot into the City. — How do 
you like the last edition of his Treatise with the Appendix,^ 
Sir Calculation, f I mean that signed with his Name.^ 

Sir Cal. Gad, my Lord, there never was so excellent a 
Book printed. — I'm quite in Eaptures with it — I will eat with 
it — sleep with it — go to Court with it — go to Parliament with 
it— go to Church with it. — I pronounce it the Gospel of Whist- 
Players ; and the Laws of the Game ought to be wrote in 

1 "The author of this treatise did promise if it met with approbation, to 
make an addition to it by way of Appendix, which he has done accord- 
ingly." — Hoyle. 

* Authorized as revised and corrected under his own hand. — Hoyle. 



68 



WHIST 



golden Letters, and hung up in Coffee houses, as much as the 
Ten Commandments in Parish Churches. 

Sir John 3L:dium. Ha ! Hal Hal You speak of the Book 
with the Zeal of a primitive Fathex, 

Sir Cal. Not half enough, Sir John — the Calculations^ are 
so exact I ^ * his Observations - are quite masterly I his 
Rules ^ so comprehensive I liis Cautions * so judicious I There 
are such Variety of Cases ^ in his Treatise, and the Principles 
are so nevr. I want Words to express the Author, and can 
look on him in no other Light than as a second Xeirtoit.^' 

The v^'ay in vrhich Sir Calculation introduces 
Hoyle's Calculations of Chances is very amusing. 

Sir John. "Twas by some such laudable Pi^actices, I sup- 
pose, that yC'u suriered in your last Affair with Lurchum, 

Sir Cal. Cad. Xo. Sir ./://;// — Xever anything was fairer, 
nor was ever any thing so critical. — "We were nine all. The 
adverse Party ha :i 3. and we 4 Tricks. All the Triunps were 
out. I had Quet-n and two small Clubs, with the Lead. Let 
me see — It was abcait 222 and 3 Halves to — *gad. I forgot how 
many — that my Partner had the Ace and King — let me recol- 
lect — ay — that he had one only was alxrnt 31 to 26. — That he 
had not both of them 17 t ? 2. — and that he had not one, or 
both, or neither, some 25 to 32. — So I. according to the Judg- 

1 " Calculations for those who will bet the odds on any points of the 
score."' etc. — " Calculations directing with moral certainty how to play well 
any hand or game." etc. — Hoyle 

- " Games to be played with certain observ'ations." etc. — Hoyle . 

3" Some general rules to be obser\-ed." etc. — " Some particular rules to 
be obser\-ed."" etc. — Hoyle. 

^ "A caution not to part with the command of your adversaries" great 
suit, " etc. — Hoyle. 

^" With a variety of Cases added in the Appendix."" — Hoyle. 



WHIST 



59 



ment of the Game, led a Club, my Partner takes it with the 
King. Then it was exactly 481 for us to 222 against th^m. 
He retm*ns the same Suit ; I win it vdth my Queen, and re- 
turn it again ; but the Devil take that Lurchum, by passing 
his Ace twice, he took the Trick, and having 2 more Clubs 
and a 13th Card, I gad, all was over. — But they both allowed 
I play'd admirably well for all that." 

The following passage from the same pamphlet 
mentions the Crown — probably the Crown Coffee- 
house — and it has been inferred from this that Hoyle 
himself might have been one of Lord Folkestone's 
party. 

" Young Jobber [a pupil of the Professor's]. Dear, Mr. 
Professor, 1 can never repay you. — You have given me such 
an Insight by this Visit, I am quite another Thing — I find I 
knew nothing of the Game before ; tho' I can assure you, I 
have been reckoned a First-rate Player in the City a good 
while — nay, for that Matter, I make no bad figure at the 
Croum — and don't despair, by your Assistance, but to make 
one at White's soon." 

Hoyle is also spoken of in his professional capa- 
city in " The Rambler of May 8, 1750. A " Lady 
that has lost her ^loney," writes "As for Play, I do 
think I may, indeed, indulge in that, now I am my 
own Mistress. Papa made me drudge at ^Vhist 'till 
I was tired of it ; and far from wanting a Head, Mr. 
Hoyle, when he had not given me above forty Les- 
sons, said, I was one of his best Scholars." 



60 



WHIST 



Again, in " The Gentleman's Magazine " for Feb- 
ruary, 1755, a writer, professing to give the autobiog- 
raphy of a modern physician, says, ''Hoyle tutor'd 
me in the several games at cards, and under the name 
of guarding me from being cheated, insensibly gave 
me a taste for sharping." 

In the middle of the eighteenth century. Whist 
was regularly played in fashionable society. In " Tom 
Jones," Lady Bellaston, Lord Fellamar, and others 
are represented as indulging in a rubber. Hoyle also 
comes in for notice in the following passage in the 
same work : " I happened to come home several 
Hours before my usual Time, when I found four 
Gentlemen of the Cloth at Whisk by my fire ; — and 
my Hoyle^ sir, — my best Hoyle, which cost me a 
Guinea, lying open on the Table, with a Quantity of 
Porter spilt on one of the most material Leaves of 
the whole Book. This, you will allow, was provok- 
ing ; but I said nothing till the rest of the honest 
Company were gone, and then gave the Fellow a gen- 
tle Rebuke, who, instead of expressing any Concern, 
made me a pert Answer, ' That Servants must have 
their Diversions as well as other People ; that he was 
sorry for the Accident which had happened to the 
Book; but that several of his Acquaintance had 
bought the same for a Shilling; and that I might 
stop as much in his Wages, if I pleased.' " 



WHIST 



61 



In an epic poem on " Whist," by Alexander Thom- 
son, which appeared in 1791, Hoyle was thus in- 
voked — 

Whist, then, delightful Whist, my theme shall be, 

And first I'll try to trace its pedigree. 

And shew what sage and comprehensive mind 

Gave to the world a pleasure so refin'd : 

Then shall the verse its various charms display, 

Which bear from ev'ry game the palm away ; 

And, last of all, those rules and maxims tell, 

Which give the envied pow'r to play it well. 

But first (for such the mode) some tuneful shade 
Must be invok'd, the vent'rous Muse to aid. 
Cremona's poet shall I first address, 
Who paints with skill the mimic war of chess, 
And India's art in Eoman accents sings ; 
Or him who soars on far sublimer wings, 
Belinda's bard, who taught his liquid lay 
At Ombre's studious game so well to play ? 

But why thus vainly hesitates the Muse, 
In idle doubt, what guardian pow'r to chuse ? 
What pow'r so well can aid her daring toil, 
As the bright spirit of immortal Hoyle ? 
By whose enlighten'd efforts Whist became 
A sober, serious, scientific game ; 
To whose unwearied pains, while here below, 
The great, th' important privilege we owe. 
That random strokes disgrace our play no more, 
But skill presides, where all was chance before. 

Come then, my friend, my teacher, and my guide, 
Where'er thy shadowy ghost may now reside ; 



62 



WHIST 



Perhaps (for Xature ev'ry change defies, 
Nor ev'n ^rith death our ruhng passion dies) 
With fond regret it hovers still, unseen, 
Around the tempting boards array'd in green ; 
Still with delight its fav'rite game regards, 
And tho' it plays no more o'erlooks the cards. 

Come then, thou glory of Britannia's isle, 
On this attempt propitious deign to smile ; 
Let all thy skill th' unerring page inspire, 
And all thy zeal my raptur'd bosom fire." 

Hoyle's name also finds a place in Don Juan. 
Byron, in saying that Troy owes to Homer what 
Whist owes to Hoyle, scarcely does justice to Hoyle, 
who was rather the founder than the historian of 
Whist. 

The Short Treatise " appeared just in the nick of 
time, when Whist was rising in repute, and when 
card-playing was the rage. The work became the 
authority almost from the date of its api)earance. 

In 1760, the laws of the game were revised by the 
members of White's and Saunders's Chocolate-houses, 
then the head-quarters of fashionable play. These 
revised laws (nearly all Hoyle) are given in every 
edition of Hojde from this date. Hoyle's laws, as 
they were called, guided all Whist coteries for a hun- 
dred and four years ; when the Arlington (now Turf) 
and Portland Clubs, re-re^dsed the code of the Choco- 
late-houses. The code agreed to by the Committees 



WHIST 



63 



of both Clubs was adopted in 1864 ; it shortly found 
its way into all Whist circles, deposed Hoyle, and is 
now (1874) the standard by which disputed points are 
determined. 

One of the chief seats of card-playing, and conse- 
quently, of Whist-playing, during the eighteenth 
century, was Bath. Even Mr. Pickwick is depicted 
playing Whist there with Miss Bolo, against the 
Dowager Lady Snuphanuph and Mrs. Colonel 
Wugsby, in a passage too well known to require quo- 
tation. Mr. Pickwick's visit was at a date when the 
chief glories of Bath had departed. The first edition 
of Matthews' " Advice to the Young Whist Player, 
containing most of the maxims of the old school 
with the author's observations on those he thinks 
erroneous " (1804), was published at Bath. 

Early in this century, the points of the game were 
altered from ten to five, and calling honours was 
abolished. It is doubtful whether this change was for 
the better. In the author's opinion Long Whist (ten 
up) is a more scientific game than Short Whist 
(five up) ; Short Whist, however, has taken such 
a hold, that there is no chance of our reverting to 
Long. According to Clay Short Whist," 1864), the 
alteration took place under the following circum- 
stances : " Some sixty or seventy years back. Lord 
Peterborough having one night lost a large sum of 



64 



WHIST 



money, the friends with whom he was playing pro* 
posed to make the game five points instead of ten, in 
order to give the loser a chance, at a quicker game, 
of recovering his loss. The late Mr. Hoare, of Bath, 
a very good whist-player, and without a superior at 
piquet, was one of this party, and has more than once 
told me the story. The new game was found to be so 
lively, and money changed hands with such increased 
rapidity that these gentlemen and their friends, all 
of them members of the leading clubs of the day, 
continued to play it. It became general in the clubs 
— thence was introduced in private houses — traveled 
into the country — went to Paris, and has long since 
^ ^ ^ entirely superseded the whist of Hoyle's 
day." 

Long AVhist had long been known in France, but 
it was not a popular game in that country. Hoyle 
has been several times translated into French. Whist 
was played by Louis XV. and under the first Empire 
was a favourite game with Josephine and Marie 
Louise. It is on record (*' Diaries of a Lady of 
Quality," 2d Ed. p. 128), that Xapoleon used to play 
^Yhist at Wiirtemburg, but not for money, and that 
he played ill and inattentively. One evening, when 
the Queen Dowager was playing against him with 
her husband and his daughter (the Queen of West- 
phalia, the wife of Jerome), the King stopped Xapo- 



WHIST 



65 



leon, who was taking up a trick that did not belong 
to him, saying, Sire, on nejoue pas ici en conqu^ant:^ 
After the restoration, Whist was taken up in France 
more enthusiastically. " The Xobles," says a French 
writer, had gone to England to learn to Think, and 
they brought back the thinking game with them." 
Talleyrand was a Whist player, and his mot to the 
youngster who boasted his ignorance of the game is 
well kno^Ti. '^Vous ne savez pas le Whiste, jeune 
hcxnime ? Quelle triste vieillesse vous vous preparez /" 
Charles X is reported to have been playing Whist 
at St. Cloud, on July 29, 1830, when the tricolor was 
waving on the Tuileries, and he had lost his throne. 

It is remarkable that the finest Whist player " 
who ever lived should have been, according to Clay, 
a Frenchman, M. Deschapelles (bom 1780, died 
1847). He published in 1839 a fragment of a " Traite 
du Whiste^'^ which treats mainly of the laws, and is 
of but little value to the Whist player. 

Before leaving this historical sketch, a few words 
may be added respecting the modern literature of 
the game. So far as the present work is concerned, 
its raison d'etre is explained in the preface to the first 
edition. How far it has fulfilled the conditions of 
its being, it is not for the author to say. It was fol- 
lowed, however, by three remarkable books, which 
call for a short notice. 

5 



66 



WHIST 



In 1864, appeared " Short Whist," by J. C. (James 
Clay). Clay's work is an able dissertation on the 
game, by the most brilliant player of his day. He 
was Chairman of the Committee appointed to revise 
the Laws of Whist, in 1863. He sat in Parliament 
for many years, being M. P. for Hull at the time of 
his death, in 1873. 

In 1865, William Pole, F. R. S., Mus. Doc. Oxon, 
published The Theory of the Modern Scientific 
Game of Whist," a work which contains a lucid 
explanation of the fundamental principles of scien- 
tific play, addressed especially to notices, but of con- 
siderable value to players of all grades. In 1883, 
Dr. Pole issued another volume, called " The Philoso- 
phy of Whist." This is an essay on the scientific 
and intellectual aspects of the modern game. It is 
divided into two parts, ^' The Philosophy of Whist 
Play," and The Philosophy of Whist Probabili- 
ties," the latter having been strangely neglected since 
the publication of Hoyle's Essay Towards Making 
the Doctrine of Chances Easy " (1754). 

These books exhibit the game both theoretically 
and practically in the perfect state at which it has 
arrived during the two centuries that have elapsed 
since Whist assumed a definite shape and took ita 
present name. 



General Principles 



INTRODUCTORY 

Before entering on an analysis of the general prin- 
ciples of the Game of Whist, it is advisable to ex- 
plain shortly on what foundation these principles 
rest ; for it might be supposed that a demonstration 
of the propositions contained in these pages is about 
to be offered ; that the chances for and against all 
possible systems of play have been calculated ; and 
that the one here upheld can be proved to be cer- 
tainly right, and all others certainly wrong. Such 
a view would be altogether erroneous. The problem 
is far too intricate to admit of being treated 
with mathematical precision. The conclusion that 
the chances are in favor of a certain line of 
play is not arrived at by abstract calculation, 
but by general reasoning, confirmed by the accumu- 
lated experience of practiced players. The student 
must not, therefore, expect absolute proof. He must 
frequently be satisfied if the reasons given appear 
weighty in themselves, and none weightier can be 
suggested on the other side ; and also with the as- 
surance that the method of play recommended in 
this work is for the most part that which, having 
stood the test of time, is generally adopted. 

67 



The First Hand Or Lead 

The considerations that determine the most advan- 
tageous card to lead at the commencement of a hand 
differ from those which regulate the lead at other 
periods ; for, at starting, the Doctrine of Probabilities 
is the only guide ; while, as the hand advances, each 
player is able, with more or less certainty, to draw 
inferences as to the position of some of the remain- 
ing cards. The number of the inferences and the 
certainty with which they can be drawn from the 
previous play, constantly increase ; hence it not un- 
frequently happens that towards the termination of a 
hand; the position of every material card is known. 

In treating of the lead, it will be most convenient 
to begin by examining the principles which govern 
the original lead. The application of these principles 
will require to be somewhat modified in the case of 
trumps, as will appear hereafter. 

I. LEAD ORIGINALLY FROM YOUR STRONGEST 
SUIT 

The first question that arises is, Which is the 
strongest suit ? A suit may be strong in two distinct 
ways. 1. It may contain more than its proportion 

68 



WHIST 



69 



of high cards. For example, it may contain two or 
more honours — one honour in each suit being the 
average for each hand. 2. It may consist of more 
than the average number of cards, in which case it is 
a numerically strong or long suit. Thus a suit of 
four cards has numerical strength ; a suit of five 
cards great numerical strength. On the other hand, 
a suit of three cards is numerically weak. 

In selecting a suit for the lead, numerical strength 
is the principal point to look to; for it must be 
borne in mind that aces and kings are not the only 
cards which make tricks; twos and threes may be- 
come quite as valuable when the suit is established — 
L 6., when the higher cards of the suit are exhausted. 
To obtain for your own small cards a value that does 
not intrinsically belong to them, and to prevent the 
adversary from obtaining it for his, is evidently an 
advantage. Both these ends are advanced by choos- 
ing for your original lead the suit in which you have 
the greatest numerical strength ; for you may estab- 
lish a suit of this description, while, owing to your 
strength, it is precisely the suit which the adversary 
has the smallest chance of establishing against you. 
A suit that is numerically weak, though otherwise 
strong, is far less eligible. 

Suppose, for example, you have five cards headed 
by (say) a ten in one suit, and ace, king, and one 



70 



WHIST 



other (say the two) in another suit. If you lead 
from the ace, king, two suit, all your power is ex- 
hausted as soon as you have parted with the ace and 
king, and you have given the holder of numerical 
strength a capital chance of establishing a suit. It is 
true that this fortunate person may be your partner; 
but it is twice as likely that he is your adversary, 
since you have two adversaries and only one partner. 
On the other hand, if you lead from the five suit, 
though your chance of establishing it is slight, you, 
at all events, avoid assisting your adversary to estab- 
lish his ; the ace and king of xomt three suit, still 
remaining in your hand, enable you to prevent the 
establishment of that suit, and may procure you the 
lead at an advanced period of the hand. This we 
shall find as we proceed is a great advantage, espe- 
cially if, in the course of play, you are left with 
all the unplayed cards, or long cards, of your five 
suit. 

The best suit of all to lead from is, of course, one 
which combines both elements of strength. 

In opening a suit, there is always the danger of 
finding your partner very weak, or of leading up to a 
tenace (2. e., the best and third best cards, or the sec- 
ond best guarded) in the hand of the fourth player. 
If you lead from a very strong suit, these dangers are 
more than compensated for by the advantages just 



WHIST 



71 



explained ; if your best suit is only moderately strong, 
the lead is not profitable, but rather the reverse. If 
all your suits are weak, the lead is very disadvan- 
tageous. The hand, however weak, must hold one 
suit of four at least, and this, if only composed of 
small cards, should generally be chosen. Being 
unable to strike the adversary, you take the best 
chance of not assisting him. 

It follows that a suit consisting of a single card is 
a very disadvantageous one to lead from ; yet such a 
lead is not uncommon, even among players of some 
experience. The reason assigned in favour of this lead 
is the possibility of making small trumps. But it is 
important to observe that you stand very nearly as 
good a chance of making trumps by waiting for some 
one else to open the suit. If the suit is opened 
by the strong hand, your barrenness will not be 
suspected; you will be able, if necessary, to win 
the second round, while you will be free from the 
guilt of having sacrificed any high card your partner 
may have possessed in the suit, or of having assisted 
in establishing a suit for the adversary. Again, your 
partner, if strong in trumps, will very likely draw 
yours and then return your lead, imagining you led 
from strength. If, indeed, he is a shrewd player, he 
will, after being taken in once or twice, accommodate 
his game to yours ; but he can never be sure of the 



72 



WHIST 



character of your lead, and may often miss a great 
game by not being able to depend upon you. If 
you have great numerical strength in trumps, the 
evils of a single-card lead are lessened ; but in this 
case, as will hereafter be shown, it is generally right 
to lead trumps. In the opinion of the Author, it may 
be laid down as an axiom that in plain suits (i. e., in 
suits not trumps) the original lead of a single card is 
in no case defensible. 

Many players will not lead from a strong suit if 
headed by a tenace ; preferring, for instance, to lead 
from ten, nine, three, to ace, queen, four, two. They 
argue, that by holding up the ace, queen suit, they 
stand a better chance of catching the king. So far 
they are right; but they purchase this advantage too 
dearly ; for the probable loss from leading the weak 
suit may be taken as greater than the probable gain 
from holding up the tenace. 

2. LEAD YOUE FOURTH-BEST CARD 

The question next arises. Which card of the strong 
suit should be led originally ? The key to this prob- 
lem is furnished by the remark that it conduces to 
the ultimate establishment of a suit to keep the high 
or commanding cards of it in the hand that has 
numerical strength. In the suit of your own choos- 
ing, you are presumably stronger than your partner ; 



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it is therefore undesirable at once to part with your 
high cards. Hence it is best, in general, to lead a 
small one. Your partner, actuated by a desire to 
assist in establishing your strong suit, will play his 
highest card to your lead {see Play of Third Hand), 
and if he fails to win the trick, will, at all events, 
force a higher card from the fourth player, and 
so help to clear the suit for you. Another rea- 
son in favour of leading a low card is, that it in- 
creases your chance of making tricks on the first two 
rounds. For, on the first round of a suit, the second 
hand generally plays his smallest card, as will be 
seen hereafter. If, therefore, you originally lead the 
smallest, holding ace and three others, the first trick 
will, in all probability, lie between your partner and 
the last player ; and since there is no reason why the 
fourth player should hold a better card than the third, 
it is nearly an even chance that your partner wins the 
trick. It is certain (bar trumping) that you win the 
second round ; therefore, if the suit is led this way, 
it is about an even chance that you make the first 
two tricks. But if you lead out the ace first, it is 
two to one against your making the second trick, for 
the adversaries have two hands against your partner's 
one, and either may hold the king. A third reason 
for leading a low card of your suit is, that your part- 
ner may prove utterly weak in it ; and in this case it 



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is important that you keep a commanding card to 
stop the adversary from establishing it. 

From four cards, then, you lead your lowest, or 
fourth-best From more than four cards you still lead 
your fourth-best, as a card of protection and infor- 
mation. The protection obtains in the case in which 
your partner holds no high card in the suit. Thus : — 
From king, ten, nine, eight, two, you lead the eight, 
not the two. .The lowest adverse card that can win 
the trick is the knave. The information given by the 
lead of the fourth-best is that you remain with three 
cards of the suit higher than the one first led. The 
knowledge of the nature of the combination led 
from, thus imparted may be very valuable. For ex- 
ample : — You lead an eight. Your partner holds king, 
ten of the suit, and plays the king, which is won 
fourth hand by the ace. Your partner now knows 
that you hold queen, knave, nine. This he could 
not have told had you led the seven, or a smaller 
card. 

It may be that your partner has a card in sequence 
with yours, and that he plays it on your fourth-best. 
For instance ; — You lead eight from queen, ten, nine, 
eight, and one or more small ones. Your partner's 
best card is the knave. Had you led a smaller card 
he would still have played the knave. But no harm 
is done by your parting with the eight. The knave 



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forces, say, the king. On the second round one of 
your high cards forces the ace and you then hold two 
winning cards in the suit. And, it should be borne 
in mindjthat it conduces to the ultimate establish- 
ment of your suit for your partner's knave to be out 
of his hand. Suppose, for instance, that he held 
knave and three small ones originally, and that you 
had led the ten. Your partner preserves the knave. 
After three rounds of the suit, if he still has the 
knave in his hand, your small cards are useless, un- 
less you obtain the lead again in some other suit 
after your partner has played the knave. 

Again : — Suppose you lead from king, ten, nine, 
eight, and that your partner's only high card is the 
queen. The lead of the ten would probably induce 
him to finesse. By finessing is meant playing an infe- 
rior card, though holding a higher one of the suit, not 
in sequence with the card played. Thus, to continue 
the illustration : — You lead the ten, and your partner 
holding the queen, plays a small card. He thus 
gives the adversary a chance of making the knave 
on the first round and of retaining the ace, notwith- 
standing that you and your partner hold king and 
queen of the suit between you. If you lead the 
eight and your partner puts on the queen, you have 
the option of finessing on the second round, and this 
is much more advantageous than your partner's pass- 



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ing the ten. In the first place, the finesse is post 
poned, when, more cards havmg been played, you 
have more data to guide you as to the policy of mak- 
ing the finesse ; and in the next place, if you have a 
choice as to whether you or your partner shall finesse 
in your strong suit, it is, as a rule, more advantageous 
for you to do it. For, as already explained, the 
establishment of a suit is furthered if the strong hand 
retains the command, and the presumably weak hand 
plays his high cards. 

There are two exceptions to the rule of originally 
leading the fourth-best of a strong suit : — 1. When 
you lead from ace, with four or more small ones, in 
plain suits. In this case, it is considered best to 
begin with the ace, lest the suit should be trumped 
on the second round. 2. When 3'our suit contains 
certain combinations of high cards, it is advisable to 
lead a high card, in order to make sure of preventing 
the adversary from winning the first trick with a very 
low card. The combinations from which a high 
card should be led, in plain suits, are those which 
include either ace, king ; or ace. queen, knave ; or 
king, queen ; or king, knave, ten : or queen, knave, 
ten. 

The card to be selected, when leading fi'om one of 
these combinations, has been the subject of careful 
examination. The result of this examination, for 



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both plain suits and trumps, will be found in the 
Analysis of Leads, which follows. This analysis 
should be familiarly known, not only that you may 
lead correctly yourself, but that you may also be able 
to infer the cards the other players hold, by observ- 
ing what they lead. 



Analysis Of Leads In Detail 



AcCy king, queen, knave 
With four in suit, lead king, then knave. 

With five in suit (even if you also hold the ten), 
lead knave, then ace. 

With six in suit, lead knave, then king. 

With more than six in suit, lead knave, then 
queen. 

Obvious alterations on account of the trump card 
are omitted. Thus, if partner has turned up the ten 
you lead a small one from ace, king, queen, knave, 
and small. 

When opening a plain suit, headed by ace, king, 
after having trumped another suit, lead the ace. If 
you begin with any other card and your partner hap- 
pens to have none of the suit, he might trump a king 
or a smaller card, in order to lead again the suit you 
have already trumped. 

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79 



Ace, king, queen 
With four in suit, lead king, then queen. 
With five in suit, lead queen, then ace. 
With more than five in suit, lead queen, then 
king. 

Ace, king, knave 

With four in suit, lead king, then ace. If the 
queen falls to the king, lead knave. This applies to 
all cases in which intermediate cards fall, and you 
remain with the card next in sequence to the one 
led. 

With more than four in suit, lead ace, then king. 

Whether the lead is from four or more than four, 
if you change the suit after the first lead, it is an in- 
dication that you want your first suit returned in 
order to finesse the knave, especially in trumps, 
when queen is turned up to your right. It is often 
advisable not to wait for the finesse. No positive 
rule can be laid down. 



Ace, king, and small 
With four, in plain suits, lead king, then ace. 
With more than four, in plain suits, lead ace, then 
king. Ace led shows great numerical strength. This 



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is deemed to be of more consequence than the tem- 
porary concealment of the kmg. 

In trumps^ lead the fourth-best, unless you have 
more than six trumps. 

Ace^ queen J knave, ten 
With four in suit, kad ace, then ten. 
With more than four in suit, lead ace, then 
knave. 

Ace, queen ^ knave, and small 
With four in suit, lead ace, then queen. 
With more than four in suit, lead ace, then knave. 



Ace, queen, ten 

With four in suit lead fourth-best. 

In trumps, lead the fourth-best, unless you have 
more than six trumps ; and, when knave is turned 
up to your right, lead queen. 

Ace and small, 

including all strong suits headed by ace, other than 
those already enumerated. 
With four in suit, lead lowest. 



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With more than four, in plain suits, lead ace, then 
fourth-best of those remaining in hand. 

In trumps, lead the fourth-best, unless you have 
more than six trumps. 

King, queen, knave, ten 
With four in suit, lead king, then ten. 
With five in suit, lead knave; then king. 
With more than five in suit, lead knave, then queen. 

King, queen, knave 

With four in suit, lead king, then knave. 

With five in suit, lead knave, then king. 

With more than five in suit, lead knave, then queen. 

King, queen, ten (in trumps) 
With four in suit, lead king. 
With more than four in suit, lead queen. 

King, queen, and small 
With four, in plain suits, lead king. 
With more than four, in plain suits, lead queen. 
If the queen wins, then the fourth-best of those 
remaining in hand. 
6 



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In trumps^ lead the fourth-best, unless you have 
more than six trumps, when lead queen. 

King^ knave, ten, nine 
Lead nine, even if you also hold the eight. 
If the nine forces the ace, and not the queen, next 
lead king. 

If the nine forces the queen, or both ace and 
queen : — 

With four in suit originally, lead king after 
nine. 

With five in suit originally, lead knave after 
nine. 

With more than five in suit originally, lead 
ten after nine. 

King, knave, ten 

Lead ten. 

If the ten wins the trick, lead lowest after ten ; 
with more than five in suit originally, fourth-best of 
those remaining in hand. 

If the ten forces the ace, and not the queen, next 
lead king. 

If the ten forces the queen, or both ace and queen : — 
With four in suit originally, lead king after 
ten. 

With more than four in suit originally, lead 
knave after ten. 



WHIST 83 

King, knave, nine (in tnmps) 
If ten is turned up to your right, lead knave. 

King and small, . 

including all strong suits headed by king, other than 
those already enumerated. 
Lead the fourth-best. 

Queen, knave, ten, nine 
With four in suit, lead queen, then nine. 
With more than four in suit, lead queen, then ten. 

Queen, knave, ten 
With four in suit, lead queen, then knave. 
With more than four in suit, lead queen, then ten. 

Queen, knave, nine (in trumps) 
If ten is turned up to your right, lead queen. 

Queen, and small, 

including all strong suits headed by queen, other than 
those already enumerated. 

Lead the fourth-best. 



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Knave, ten, nine 

In plain suits, lead fourth-best. 

This lead is disputed ; some players lead knave. 
The result of recent calculation tends to show that 
the fourth-best is to be preferred. 

In trumps, knave is generally led from knave, ten, 
nine suits, especially if king or queen is turned up 
to your left. "When knave is led from knave, ten, 
nine, eight, four in suit, lead eight after knave, ^yith 
more than four in suit, lead nine after knave. And, 
when knave is led from hiave, ten, nine, four in suit, 
lead ten after knave. With more than four in suit, 
lead nine after knave. 



Knave, ten, eight (in trumps) 
If nine is turned up to your right, lead knave. 

Knave, and small, 

including all strong suits headed by knave, other 

than those already enumerated. 
Lead the fourth-best. 



Suits of four or more cards without an honour 
Lead the fourth-best. 



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85 



INFERENCES FROM THE ANALYSIS 

If ace is led originally, you infer a lead from, 
(a.) A suit of five or more cards ; or, 
(b.) Ace, queen, knave, four or more cards. 

If king is led originally, you infer a lead from, 
(a.) Ace, king, four in suit ; or, 
(b.) King, queen, four in suit. 

If queen is led originally, you infer a lead from, 
(a.) Ace, king, queen, five or more in suit ; or, 
(6.) King, queen, five or more in suit ; or, 
(c.) Queen, knave, ten, four or more in suit. 

If knave is led originally, you infer a lead from, 
(a.) Ace, king, queen, knave, five or more in 
suit; or, 

(6.) King, queen, knave, five or more in suit ; or, 
(c.) Ill trumps, knave, ten, nine, four or more in 
suit. 

It will be gathered from these inferences, that the 
third hand, holding none of the suit, should not 
trump an honour led originally. 

If ten is led originally, you infer a lead from king, 
knave, ten. 

If a lower card than a ten is led originally, you 
infer three cards higher than the one led, in the 
leader's hand. In the case of nine led, the three 
cards must be ace, queen, ten ; or ace, knave, ten ; or 
king, knave, ten. 



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When there is an alternative, the fall of the cards, ' 

or the cards in your own hand, will often disclose the 
precise nature of the combination led from. Thus, 
if knave of a plain suit is led, and it is won by the 
ace, or you hold the ace, you know the leader to hold 
king, queen, and at least two others. 

The second lead will determine the number of 
cards led from, when the leader remains with two 
high indifferent cards. He leads the higher from 
the minimum number he can hold ; the lower, if he 
has more. Thus : — If knave of a plain suit is led, 
the minimum held is five. If, on the second lead, 
king (the higher of the two indifferent cards, king, 
queen), is led, the leader has two small cards of his 
suit, exactly ; if, on the second lead, queen (the lower 
of the two indifferent cards) is led, the leader has 
more than two small cards. 

3. LEAD THE HIGHEST OF A NUMEEICALLY WEAK 

SUIT 

When it is your fate to open a numerically weak 
suit, your object should be to do as little harm as 
possible. You cannot expect to win many tricks, so 
you must do all j^ou can to assist or strengthen your 
partner by leading high or strengthening cards ; for, 
by leading the highest of a suit numerically weak, 
you take the best chance of keeping the strength 
in your partner's hand, should he happen to hold it. 



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87 



You will not often he driven to open a weak suit 
origfinally, as one of your suits must contain as many 
as four cards. But it may so turn out that your 
four-card suit is composed of very small cards indeed, 
in which case you might prefer to open a suit con- 
taining better cards, though numerically weaker. 
Every one can see that ace, king, queen, is a better 
suit to open than five, four, three, two ; but as you 
descend in one scale and ascend in the other, there 
comes a point where the two descriptions of strength 
nearly or quite balance. With hands containing only 
a suit of four small cards — -^ay none higher than the 
seven or eight, and suits of three cards of higher 
value — the choice is sometimes difficult. Also, with 
hands in which your only four-card suit is the trump 
suit, you might sometimes deem it advisable to open 
one of the other suits, as a smaller evil than leading 
a trump. As a rule, when you are in doubt, stick to 
the general principle, and lead from your four-card 
suit, even though it is the trump suit. 

Whenever you decide on opening a suit of but 
three cards, choose, if possible, one in which you 
hold a sequence which may be of benefit to your 
partner, as queen, knave, ten ; queen, knave, and one 
small one ; knave, ten, and one other, and so on. and 
lead the highest. If you have no sequence, lead 
from your strongest weak suit. Thus, two honours 



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not in sequence, and one small one, is a better lead 
than ace and two small ones, or king and two small 
ones. These, again, should be chosen in preference 
to queen and two small ones. When leading from a 
numerically weak suit that contains ace, king, or 
queen, but no sequence, if you have any indication 
from the previous play that your partner is strong 
in the suit (as will be explained in Section 4), lead 
the highest. But, having no guide as to his strength, 
lead the lowest. You run the risk of making your 
partner think you have led from numerical strength ; 
but, on the other hand, ]^ leading out the high card, 
you at once give up the command of the suit, and^ 
unless your partner has strength in it (the chances 
being against this), you leave yourself at the mercy 
of the opponents. 

The case is difierent with numerically weak suits 
headed by a knave or a lower card. Of these suits 
you should lead the highest ; by retaining such a 
card as the knave you would scarcely ever be able to 
stop the adversaries from establishing the suit, should 
they be strong in it ; and, by leading out the high 
card, you do all you can to aid your partner, should 
he have strength. 

Ace and one other, king and one other, or queen 
and one other, are very bad suits to lead from. By 
holding them up you and your partner stand a better 



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89 



chance of making tricks in the suit ; and if it should 
be the adversaries' suit (the chances being two to one 
that it is) you keep the power of obstructing it and 
of obtaining the lead at advanced periods of the 
hand. If you lead from ace, king only, lead ace, 
then king. 

It follows that when you lead a high card in the 
first round of a suit, and in the next drop a lower 
one (subject to the rules respecting leads from high 
cards, and the lead of fourth-best from five or more), 
your partner should infer you have led from a weak 
suit. Thus, suppose you lead a knave. If on the 
second round you lead a higher card, your partner 
knows you have led from commanding strength. 
But if on the second round you lead a lower card 
not in sequence with the knave, your partner may be 
equally certain that the card first led was the highest 
of your suit. 

4. AVOID CHANGING SUITS 

When you obtain the lead after one or more tricks 
have been played, the question arises whether or not 
you should open a fresh suit. If you have had the 
lead before, it is generally advisable to pursue your 
original lead, for you thus take the best chance of 
estabhshing the suit, and you open a fi:esh suit to a 
disadvantage. 



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The fall of the cards in the previous rounds may 
cause you to alter your game. Thus, the previous 
play may have already established your suit, or may 
have so nearly established it as to justify you in lead- 
ing trumps, as hereafter explained ; or your partner 
may have shown a very strong suit, or a strong trump 
hand, which may modify your game. Again, your 
partner may prove utterly weak in your suit ; you 
would then often discontinue it, unless holding the 
winning cards or a strong sequence, because, with 
these exceptions, your continuing it gives the adver- 
sary the opportunity of finessing against you, and of 
cutting up your suit ; or you may sometimes discon- 
tinue a suit if you expect it will be trumped (as will 
be further explained in Sections 13-16) ; but, failing 
such indications, it is best, as a rule, to pursue the 
original lead. 

If you have not had the lead before, it is in most 
cases advisable to open your strong suit, when you 
possess great strength in any suit, for you open 
such suit to advantage ; but with weak or only mod- 
erately strong suits, which you open to a disadvantage, 
you Avould, as a rule, do better to return your part- 
ner's original lead, or to lead up to the weak suit of 
your right-hand adversary, or through the strong suit 
of your left-hand adversar}'. When in doubt as to 
opening your own suit or returning your partner's. 



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91 



you should, as a general rule, be guided by your 
strength in trumps. With a strong trump hand play 
your own game ; with a weak trump hand play your 
partner's game. 

If your partner has had a lead, and you are thor- 
oughly conversant with the system of leading devel- 
oped in Sections 2 and 3, and with the Analysis of 
Leads, you will probably know by the value of the 
card he has led whether he is strong or weak in that 
suit. If you have no evidence from your own hand, 
or from the fall of the cards, you assume, with a good 
partner, that his original lead was from strength. 
But you mostly have some evidence ; for instance, if 
he leads a ten, he has led from king, knave, ten ; or 
the ten is the highest of his suit. If you hold — or 
either adversary plays — king or knave, you know 
that your partner has led the highest of his suit. 
But, in the absence of these cards, and especially if 
the ten wins the first round, or is taken by the ace or 
queen, you may conclude that your partner's lead 
was from strength, and you would not hesitate to 
return it. 

When you have won the first trick in your partner's 
lead cheaply, you should avoid returning it in plain 
suits, as the strength must be between your partner and 
your right-hand adversary. For example, say A, Y, 
B, Z, are the four players, and that they sit in this 



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order round the table, so that A leads and Z is last 
player. If A leads a small card of a plain suit, Y 
plays a small one, and B (third player) puts on his 
best card, the queen, which wins the trick, it is clear 
that Z can have neither ace nor king ; A cannot have 
them both, or he would have led one, therefore Y 
must have one of them at least ; and, if B returns the 
lead, he leads up to Y's strength, and may cut up his 
partner's suit. 

By observing the card led by either adversary, you 
can similarly tell whether he has led from strength 
or weakness ; so also you can judge from the card 
played third hand by the adversary whether he is 
weak, it being presumed that the third player puts 
on his best. It is advantageous to lead up to a weak 
suit, because you compel the second hand to put on 
a high card, or give your partner the opportunity of 
finessing. It is generally less advantageous to lead 
through a strong suit, unless you are sure that the 
second hand is not very strong, and that the fourth 
hand is weak. Otherwise, by continuing the suit, 
you may be establishing it for the adversary, and 
getting rid of the command of it from your partner's 
hand. 

In discussing leads from weak suits it was supposed, 
for the sake of convenience, that the leader had no 
indication from the play to guide him. But in prac- 



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9S 



tice, in by far the greater number of cases, weak suits 
are opened late in a hand when inference from pre- 
vious play has given an insight into the strength or 
weakness of the several players. Thus, you com- 
mence with your strong suit ; your partner fails to 
show any strength in it. After several other tricks 
are played you have the lead again, remaining with 
(say) king and two others of your first lead. You 
do not wish to take one of the guards from your 
king, and you do not deem it advisable to lead a card 
which your partner may be obliged to trump. You 
therefore try another suit. By this time you know, 
either by the adversaries' leads what their strong suits 
are, or by the players' discards (i. e., by the cards 
they throw away when not able to follow suit) what 
their weak suits are, as will be explained under Dis- 
carding. Guided by these indications, you make 
choice of a suit for your second lead in which your 
partner is probably strong, and under such circum- 
stances you would, as a rule, lead the highest of 
the suit of your second choosing, if numerically weak 
in it. 

When you have led a strengthening card, and it 
wins the trick, you can rarely do better than continue 
with your next highest. For example : from queen, 
knave, and three you lead the queen, which goes 
round. It hardly requires to be stated that you 



94 



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make the best use of your suit by continuing with 
the knave. When your strengthening card does not 
Avin, the course of the play is the only guide as to 
whether you should continue the suit. The applica- 
tion of the considerations advanced in this Section 
will generally inform you where the strong and weak 
suits lie, and you will act accordinglj^, giving your 
partner his strong suit, or, if he has not shown one, 
leading up to the weak suit of the right-hand adver- 
sary, or through the strong suit of the left-hand ad- 
versary. 

It has several times been assumed that it is advan* 
tageous to have the lead at advanced periods of a 
hand ; we now see one principal reason why it is so. 
The leader knows by observation where the strong 
and the weak suits lie, and he Avill generally be able 
to make use of this knowledge in assisting his part- 
ner, or in obstructing his opponents. 

The principles explained in the preceding pages 
apply mainly to the original lead, or to leads early 
in a hand. They apply also to leads generally; but 
at advanced periods of the hand, and toward its 
close, their application is frequently modified by 
inferences from the previous play, and by the state 
of the score. 

On the second round of a suit — 



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95 



5. RETURN THE LOWEST OF A STRONG SUIT, 
THE HIGHEST OF A WEAK SUIT 

When you return your partner's lead, the card you 
should choose to lead on the second round depends 
on the number of cards of the suit you have reniam- 
ing. Thus, if you remain with three cards, you must 
have had four at first. You therefore had strength 
in the suit, and you should return the smallest of 
the three remaining cards, agreeably to the principle 
that with strength it is to your advantage to retain 
the command in your own hand. If you remain 
with two cards only, you should return the higher 
one to strengthen your partner; and, similarly, if 
you have discarded one of a four-suit, and are left 
with two only at the time you return it, you have 
destroyed the numerical power of your suit, and 
should therefore treat it as a weak suit, and re- 
turn the higher card of the two remaining in your 
hand. 

The advantages of this principle are numerous. 
In the case that you and your partner are both nu- 
merically strong, the return of the lowest prevents 
him from finessing in a suit which must be trumped 
third round. Further, if your hand is weak, you 
naturally return a suit in which you infer that your 
partner is strong. You then return a strengthening 
card to get a high card of your partner's strong suit 



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out of his way, and you enable him to finesse if he 
thinks proper, and so to keep the command of his 
suit in his own hand. 

It is true that with two small cards only (say the 
five and the six) you do not strengthen your partner 
by returning the six. But there is a collateral advan- 
tage in keeping to the rule even with small cards — 
you enable a good partner to calculate how many you have 
left of the suit, and often where the remainder of it lies. 
Thus, your partner leads a small card of a suit of which 
you have king, three, and two. You, as third player, 
put on the king. If you return the suit, you return 
the three, and not the two, when it ought to be in- 
ferred, either that you have returned the smallest of 
a suit of four or more, or that you have no more of 
the suit left, or the two only. When your two comes 
down in the third round it ought to be certain that 
you have no more. If your partner has confidence 
in you, he can often count what you have left be- 
fore the third round is played ; thus, in the above in- 
stance, your partner, not having the two himself, 
and seeing that it does not drop from the adver- 
saries, concludes, with tolerable certainty, that you 
remain, after the second round, with the two and no 
more. 

There are three exceptions to the rule of play above 
stated : 1. When you hold the winning card you re- 
turn it, whatever number of cards you hold, lest it 



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97 



should be trumped the thhd round, or, your partner, 

imagining it to be against him. should finesse ; and 

2. When you hold the second and third best, in plain 

suits, you return the highest. Thus, suppose you 

have queen, knave, ten, and one small one of a suit 

of which your partner leads a small one, you (third 

hand) put on the ten, which is won by (say) the ace. 

If you afterwards return the suit, you should return 

the queen, for you not only force out the king, if 

against you, but you also do not block your partner s 

suit, should he have led from great numerical strength, 

say five cards to the nine, an advantage which you 

lose by returning the small one ; and 3. When you 

have begun to unblock your partners suit on the first 

round (see The Command of Suits), you return the 

highest card, notwithstanding that you still remain 

with three cards of the suit. 

It should also be observed that, occasionally, when 

you return your adversary's strong lead, you do not 

lead the higher of two remaining cards, especially if 

you hold the second-best guarded. For example, 

you are A ; Y is your left-hand adversary. Y has 

led a king, which was won by the ace> leaving Y with 

the queen and others. You remain with knave and 

one small one. If you are driven to return this suit, 

you should return the small one. The queen will 

probably be put on second hand, and you will remain 

with the best. 
7 



The Second Hand 



On the first round of a suit, you should generally, 
6. PLAY YOUR LOWEST CARD SECOND HAND 

You presume that the first hand has led from 
strength, and, if you have a high card in his suit, you 
lie over him when it is led again ; whereas, if you 
play your high card second hand, you get rid of a 
commanding card of the adversary's suit, and, if it 
is returned, the original leader finesses against you. 
Besides this, the third player will play his highest 
card, and, if it is better than yours, you have wasted 
power to no purpose. 

If, however, you have a sequence of high cards, 
you should put on one of the sequence second hand, 
for, if you pass the trick, the third hand may win 
with a very low card, or, with his low card, may 
force a high one from your partner. The chief ob- 
jection to playing an unsupported high card does not 
apply, as the leader cannot successfully finesse 
against you on the next round. 

With a moderate sequence, such as queen, knave — 
knave, ten — ten, nine — you play the lowest of the 
sequence if you are numerically weak ] but^with more 

98 



WHIST 



99 



than three cards of the suit, you pass a small card 
led, agreeably to the principle already discussed — 
that in weak suits you play to save your partner's 
hand, but in strong ones you leave him to help you. 
For instance: the leader (A) has king, ten, nine, 
eight, seven of a suit; the second player (Y) has 
queen, knave, and one small one ; the fourth player 
(Z) has ace and two small ones. A leads a small 
card ; Y should play the knave ; if he does not, the 
card led forces Z's ace. It is true that this happens 
also if Y passes with queen, knave, and two small 
ones ; but Y, in this case, has a guard to his queen 
and knave, and is left with the two commanding 
cards after the second round of the suit. 

With a sequence lower than ten, nine, there is no 
advantage in putting on one of the sequence; so the 
lowest should then be played second hand, in con- 
formity with the general principle. 

7. PLAY THE LOWEST OF A SEQUENCE 

When you do not head a trick, you throw away 
your lowest card to economize your strength. Your 
play may not be of any consequence as regards 
merely the chance of making tricks ; but it may be, 
and often is, of importance in affording information 
to partner. 

Thus, suppose the players to be as before. A, Y, 



100 



WHIST 



Z. A leads the three of a suit, Y plays the five, B 
the four. It ought to be certain that B has no more 
of the suit, it being presumed that he, not being able 
to head the trick, throws away his smallest. If he 
afterwards plays the two, and it turns out that he 
previously played the four through carelessness^ his 
partner loses confidence, and gives up all hopes of 
drawing correct inferences from his play. 

This rule, viz., to play the low^est, applies equally 
to cards in sequence, w^hether you attempt to win the 
trick or not Thus, say queen is led, and you (second 
hand) hold ace and king ; if you put on the king, 
your partner gains the very important information 
that you have the ace also. For queen is not led 
from ace, queen, etc., so the leader cannot hold the 
ace ; the third hand cannot have it, or he would win 
the king ; and the fourth, not having it himself, in- 
fers that you hold it. If you put on the ace, not 
only could he not tell that you hold the king, but, in 
consequence of this rule of play would assume that 
it lay with the leader or his partner. The play of 
the lowest of the sequence, though illustrated for the 
sake of convenience in respect of the second hand, 
applies to the third and fourth hands also. (For a 
fuller examination of this point see Section 12.) 



ANALYSIS OF 

Play of Second Hand in Detail 

Ace, king, queen, etc. 
Play lowest of ace, king, queen sequence. 

Ace, king, knave, etc. 
Play king (but see p. 104). 

On the second round of the suit, it becomes a 
matter of judgment whether you should play ace 
or finesse knave. No positive rule can be laid 
down. 

Ace, king, etc. 

Play king. 

In trumps, it is sometimes right to pass, leaving the 
chance of the first trick to your partner. 

Obvious alterations on account of the trump card 
are omitted. It is clear that, with ace, king, etc., if 
your partner has turned up the queen, you should 
play a small one ; and that, with ace, king, knave, if 
your right-hand adversary has turned up the qu^en, 
you should play the knave ; and so on for other cases. 
(And see pp. 106, 107, for the play when a medium 
card is led.) 

101 



102 



WHIST 



Ace, queen, knave, etc. 
Play lowest of queen, knave sequence. 

Ace, queen, ten, etc. 

■ In trumps, play ten, or with cards in sequence, the 
lowest of the ten sequence. 

In plain suits, ii strong enough in trumps to lead 
them, play ten, or lowest of sequence; if weak in 
trumps, play queen (but see p. 105). 

With ace, queen, ten only, play ten, whether strong 
in trumps or not. 

Ace, queen, etc, 

-'■ Small card led. 

In trumps, play a small one. 

In plain suits, with five in suit, play a small one if 
strong in trumps ; the queen if weak in trumps. 
Knave led. 

Play ace. It is useless to cover with the queen, as 
the leader cannot hold the king (^see Analysis of 
Leads). 

These instructions assume ordinary original leads 
from strength. If ace or queen is turned up, some 
players lead knave, from king, knave, ten. If you 
know this is the practice of your right-hand adver- 
sary, you should exercise your judgment as to cover- 
ing with ace or queen. - - ■ - ' " 



WHIST 



103 



Also toward the close of a hand, knave might be 
led from king, knave for various reasons, perhaps as 
the best chance of saving or winning the game or a 
point, or as a false card. No rule can be laid down 
for such cases. 

Ten or nine led. x 

Play queen. 

Ace, knave, ten, etc. 

In trumps, play ten, or with cards in sequence with 
the ten, the lowest of the sequence. 

In plain suits, play a small one. 

The reason for the difference is that, in trumps a 
small card may be led from king, queen, etc. ; but in 
plain suits, not. Hence as, in plain suits, the king 
or queen must be in the third or fourth hand, your 
strength would be wasted by covering. 

Ace and small ones. 
Play a small one. 

As before observed, the original lead of a small 
card from strength is assumed. 

If, after several tricks have been played, you par- 
ticularly want the lead, or you suspect the possibility 
of a lead from a single card, or one trick is of import- 
ance, you would often be right to play the ace. Again 
no rule can be laid down. 



104 WHIST 

King^ queen, knave, etc. 
Play the lowest of the king, queen, knave se- 
quence. 

King, queen, etc. 

Small card led. 
Play queen. 

In trumps it is sometimes right to pass, unless you 
hold ten also, or only three in suit. 
Knave led. 

The usual practice is to cover with the queen. But 
it can be shown by calculation that, if the lead is 
from knave, ten, nine, and small, more is gained than 
lost, in the long run, by passing. 

The best lead from knave, ten, nine, etc., is disputed; 
and so also is the question of covering. 

King, knave, ten, etc. 
Play the lowest of the knave, ten sequence. 

Queen, knave, ten, etc. 
Play ten, or lowest of sequence. 

Knave, ten, nine, etc. 
Play nine, or lowest of sequence. 

Queen, knave, and small; knave, ten, and small; ieUy 
nine, and small. 

Play as directed at pp. 98, 99. 



WHIST 



105 



Covering or passing second hand. 

If an honour is led, and you have the ace, as a 
rule play the ace. 

If an honour is led, and you hold an honour, not 
the ace, pass as a rule. 

It was formerly the practice to cover an honour 
with an honour, if numerically weak. Calculation 
shows more is gained than lost, in the long run, by 
passing. But if a strengthening card is led, late in a 
hand, it would often be right to cover. No positive 
rule can be laid down for the play of the second hand 
under such circumstances. When you have the four- 
chette it is almost always right to cover. Thus, if 
knave is led, and you hold queen, ten, etc., put on the 
queen. 

If a ten or nine is led, and you hold queen and one 
small one, play queen. The lead is probably from 
king, knave, ten, etc. , and the queen may save your 
partner's ace. With queen and two small ones, or 
with other combinations not enumerated as those with 
which a high card should be played second hand^ 
pass. 

If a nine is led, and you hold king and one small 
one, pla.y king. The leader must have opened an 
ace suit (either ace, queen, ten, nine, or ace, knave, 
ten, nine), assuming him to have led from a suit of 



106 



WHIST 



four cards. The same applies if you hold king, nine, 
and eight is led. 

If a medium card is led from a suit of at least four 
cards, three being higher than the card led, and you 
hold cards that (together with the leader's cards) make 
up a sequence, cover with the lowest card you can. 
For example: — The original lead is an eight. You 
(second hand) hold ace, king, ten, with or without 
small ones. If the lead was from queen, knave, nine, 
eight, as is most probable, and the ten is put on, it 
will win the trick. 

Again : the original lead is a seven. You hold ace, 
queen, knave, eight. If the seven is the lowest of a 
four-card suit, the lead must have been from king, 
ten, nine, seven. Therefore, the eight put on will win 
the trick. 

If an eight is led, and you hold an honour, the ten, 
and a small card, play the ten. The lead being pre- 
sumably from at least four cards, of which the eight 
is the lowest, nothing is lost by playing the ten, and 
a high card may be saved in your partner's hand. 
The same applies to knave, nine, and a small card, 
when you should cover the eight with the nine. In 
trumps, but not in plain suits, you should similarly 
play the nine on the eight, holding king, nine, and a 
small one; or queen, nine, and a small one. If the 
leader of an ace follows with a medium card, and you 



WHIST 



107 



can make up the sequence with your cards, cover 
with the lowest. Thus : — Ace is led, and the leader 
continues with the fourth-best of those remaining in 
his hand, viz., the seven. You had, originally, king, 
queen, ten, four, and you played the four to the ace. 
The leader must hold knave, nine, eight. You 
should therefore play the ten on his seven. 

If a small card is led, and you hold an honour and 
a small card, pass the trick as a rule ; for by putting 
on the honour you expose your weakness and enable 
the original leader to finesse against you on the sec- 
ond round. The principal general exception to play- 
ing a small card second hand, is when the circum- 
stances of the hand cause you to seize any chance of 
obtaining the lead, as when you want to stop a lead of 
trumps, or to lead trumps yourself. Then it is often 
right to play a high card second hand, when unsup- 
ported by another high card. 

Also, in trumps, if king or queen is turned up, and 
you hold it singly guarded (i. e., if you have only 
one other trump), it is generally advisable to put on 
the turn-up, second hand. And if you hold king or 
queen, singly guarded, and a superior honour is 
turned up to your right, you should play the king or 
queen. 

In the second round of a suit, if you have the 
winning card, you should — in plain suits — generally 



108 



WHIST 



put it on second hand, subject to a finesse that will 
'T^ertainly be successful ; but in trumps there are many 
cases in which you should not, especially if you have 
numerical strength in trumps, and a good hand be- 
sides. Your winning trump must make, and, by pass- 
ing the second round, you perhaps enable your part- 
ner to win with a third-best trump — or even a smaller 
one — yourself retaining the command. 

If, when led through on the second round of a suit, 
you conclude from the previous fall of the cards that 
the second-best card is to your right, it is sometimes 
advisable to put on the third-best. You thus save 
your partner's hand if he holds the best. For in- 
stance : if knave is led in the first round, and your 
partner (then second player) plays king, which 
wins the trick, it is clear (if the ten is your best) that 
your partner has the ace, for the third player could 
not win the king, and the leader could not have led 
from ace, knave. If your right-hand adversary after- 
wards returns the suit through you, you should put 
on the ten in order to save your partner's ace. 



The Third Hand 



On the first round of a suit, you should generally 
8. PLAY YOUR HIGHEST CARD THIRD HAND, 

in order to strengthen your partner. You presume 
that he leads from his strong suit, and wants to have 
the winning cards of it out of his way ; you, there- 
fore, do not finesse, but play your highest, remember- 
ing that you play the lowest of a sequence. 

With ace, queen (and, of course, ace, queen, knave, 
etc., in sequence) you do finesse, for, in this case, the 
finesse cannot be left to your partner. In trumps 
you may finesse ace, knave, if an honour is turned 
up to your right. Some players finesse knave with 
king, knave, etc. ; but it is contrary to principle to 
finesse in your partner's strong suit. 

If your partner leads a high card originally, you 
assume it is led from one of the combinations 
given in the Analysis of Leads, and your play 
third hand must be guided by a consideration of the 
combination led from. With ace, you pass queen 
led ; you are then in much the same position as though 
a small card were led, and you finessed with ace, 
queen. 

109 



110 



WHIST 



Knave, led originally, is from king, queen, knave, 
etc. (Some players lead knave from knave, ten, 
nine, etc.) In either case, if you hold ace with one 
small card, play the ace; with more than one small 
card, pass. If your only honour is the king, you 
should pass knave led. For, the second hand, 
having passed, you assume ace to be to your left (p. 
104). Should the queen be there also, you waste 
the king by covering ; and if queen is to your right, 
the knave forces the ace. 

Ten is led originally from king, knave, ten, etc. If 
you hold ace, put it on ; but if you hold queen, pass. 
The same applies to nine led originally. Holding 
ace, queen, and two small, pass unless you want the 
lead (for the play with ace, queen, and one small, or 
ace, queen only, see p. 120). 

If your partner opens a suit, late in a hand, with a 
high card, your play, third hand, will depend on your 
judgment of the character of the lead. If it is prob- 
able that your partner has led from a weak suit, you 
will often be right to finesse king, knave, etc., or to 
pass his card altogether, so as not to give up the en- 
tire command of the suit. Thus, if ten is led and 
you hold ace, knave, etc., it is clear that the card led 
is the highest your partner holds in the suit. You 
therefore pass, and unless both king and queen are to 
your left, you remain with the tenace. Similar re- 



WHIST 



111 



marks apply to a forced lead of knave, when you 
hold ace, ten, etc. If you have considerable strength 
in a suit in which a strengthening card is led, you 
must be guided by your strength in trumps. Thus, 
your partner leads knave from a weak suit, and you 
hold ace, king, and small ones. You may, as a rule, 
pass the knave if you are strong in trumps, but not 
if weak. 

On the second round of a suit, if you (third player) 
hold the best and third-best cards, and you have no 
indication as to the position of the intermediate card, 
your play should again depend on your strength in 
trumps. If weak in trumps secure the trick at once ; 
if strong in trumps, and especially if strong enough 
to lead a trump (see Management of Trumps), 
should the finesse succeed, it is generally right 
to make it. If you hold second and fourth-best, 
you may nearly always finesse; for you conclude 
that the winning card is over you in the fourth hand, 
since your partner has not led it, and the second 
player has not put it on. If the third-best lies over 
you also, you cannot prevent the tenace from making, 
and your only chance, therefore, is to finesse. Thus, 
you lead a small card from queen, ten, and two small 
ones ; your partner wins the first trick with the king, 
and returns a small one. The ace is certainly to 
your left ; you therefore finesse the ten, for if your 



112 



WHIST 



left-hand adversary holds ace and knave he must 
make them both ; but, otherwise, your ten forces the 
ace, and you are left with the best. In trumps, the 
winning card is often held up by the adversary, but 
you must submit to this contingency, and generally 
finesse. 

It is of no use to finesse against your right-hand 
adversary in a suit in which he has shown weakness. 
For instance, if the second hand has none of the suit 
led, and does not trump it, you (third hand) should 
not finesse a major tenace (z. e., the best and third-best 
cards). This often occurs in the second or third 
round of a suit ; also, if your partner (third player) 
has won a trick very cheaply, and the suit is returned, 
it is rarely of any use to finesse if you have the win- 
ning card. 

In some few positions, however, it is necessary to 
finesse, even if the second player holds nothing. 
Thus, your partner leads a knave, and the second 
hand renounces (i. e., does not follow suit) ; if you 
(third player) hold king, it is useless to cover, as ace, 
queen in the fourth hand must make. Again, you 
have king, and two small trumps : your partner leads 
a small one ; the second hand renounces. If you 
want one trick to win or save the game, you (third 
player) play a small trump, when the fourth player 
will be obliged to lead up to your king guarded. 



WHIST 



113 



The state of the game and of the score will often 
direct as to a finesse late in a hand. Thus, if you 
hold a winning card, and want one trick to save or 
win the game, of course you should not run any risk. 
A finesse against even one card is generally wrong, if 
by playing otherwise, you prevent the adversary 
from scoring three or five. "A finesse is almost always 
bad, if by not finessing you insure the odd trick, as 
that makes a difference of two to the score. In the 
opposite case, a finesse is generally right (sometimes 
even against more than one card), if its success gives 
you the odd trick, or puts you at the score of three 
or five. 

The considerations as to finessing and the course 
of play generally, that come in as the hand proceeds, 
are so complicated, and depend so much on inferences 
from previous play, and on the state of the score, that 
only broad rules with examples can be given. Illus- 
trations of the conduct of the hand at advanced 
periods will be found in Sections 17 and 18 (pp. 
160^186). 



The Fourth Hand 

The fourth player having, with a few exceptions, 
merely to win the trick, if against him, his play 
involves no further development of general princi- 
ples. 

The exceptional cases where the fourth hand should 
not win the trick though he can, or should win his 
partner's trick in order to get the lead, depend so 
much on the previous fall of the cards, that they can 
best be illustrated in actual play. 

Note. — The general rule for fourth-hand play is to take 
all the tricks against you that you can, and as cheaply as 
possible. It is sometimes an advantage, however, not to 
take the trick, as when it is desirable to throw the lead in 
one of your opponent's hands, or where it- is seen to be pos- 
sible to take two tricks in place of one. Such exceptional 
cases, however, are rare, and it requires a player of long 
experience to detect them. 



114 



The Command of Suits 



In the foregoing chapters it has been incidentally- 
stated that you should 

9. KEEP THE COMMxlND OF YOUR ADVERSARY'S 
SUIT; and 

10. GET RID OF THE COMMAND OF YOUR 
PARTNER'S SUIT 

The reasons will be obvious to those who are 
familiar with the previous pages ; in the first case, 
you obstruct the adversaries' suits, and prevent their 
establishing them ; in the second case you assist in 
clearing the suit for your partner. 

Thus, with ace and queen only of a suit led by 
your partner, if you win with the queen, play out the 
ace at once ; but if the suit is led by your adversary, 
keep the ace in your hand. If you play out the 
winning card of the opponent's suit in hopes of 
trumping the next round, you do just what the 
adversaries want by playing their game for them ; the 
lead of the ace may afford them valuable assistance 
in establishing their suit, and in bringing it in after 
trumps are out. 

115 



116 



WHIST 



Though the advantage of getting rid of the com- 
mand of a suit, in which your partner has declared 
strength, is recognized theoretically, the application 
of the principle of unblocking is much neglected in 
practice. 

When you hold five or more of your partner's 
suit, there is no need to attempt to unblock, as you 
are presumably as strong as, or stronger than, he is. 

When you hold four cards exactly of a plain suit, 
of which your partner leads originally ace, queen, 
knave, ten, or nine, you should retain your lowest 
card on the first and second rounds. For example : 
— Ace is led. You (third hand) hold king, queen, 
knave, and one small card of the suit. The lead 
must be from at least five cards. If you play the 
small card to the ace, you effectually block the suit. 
You should play the knave, and on the second round 
the queen, even if the second hand trumps. 

Similar unblocking tactics should be employed 
with any four cards in plain suits ; the trump suit 
cannot be blocked. 

Occasional loss of a trick may result ; but the risk 
is slight, and is more than compensated for by the 
tricks won in consequence of unblocking. 

The king is not included as a high card for un- 
blocking purposes, the lead being from four cards 
{see Analysis of Leads). 



WHIST 



117 



Your partner should be careful to distinguish be- 
tween unblocking and calling for trumps {see Man- 
agement of Trumps). If you play on the second 
round a higher card than you played on the first, 
and on the third round a lower card, you have not 
completed a call. For instance : — A leads ace ; B 
(third hand) holds king, ten, nine, two, and begins 
to unblock by playing nine. A then leads queen. 
B must play ten, to avoid completing a call, not- 
withstanding that he now knows the lead to have 
been from four cards only {see Analysis of Leads). 
If on the third round B plays the two, he has not 
called for trumps. The inference is that he had four of 
the suit originally, and abandons unblocking tactics 
on the third round, as he finds perseverance useless. 

If you wish to call and to unblock at the same 
time, you must play the two middle cards in reverse 
order. Thus, in the above example, if B plays ten 
to the first trick and nine to the second, he has called 
and unblocked. 

When you have begun to unblock on the first 
round, and the suit is discontinued, and you obtain 
the lead and desire to return your partner's suit, you 
must return your highest card, notvydthstanding that 
you had four originally {see Section 5). If you re- 
turn the lowest, you undo all you have already done, 
and complete a call for trumps. 



118 



WHIST 



Thus : — A leads queen originally ; B, holding nine, 
eight, seven, two, plays the seven. The trick is won 
adversely. B obtains the lead in another suit. If 
he now returns his partner's lead, he should return 
the nine. 

If you have begun to unblock on the first round 
of a suit, and the suit is discontinued, and you have 
subsequently to discard from that suit, you must 
discard your middle card, or you undo all you have 
already done, and complete a call for trumps. 

It will not often happen that a suit will be brought 
in by following the unblocking rule with four in 
hand exactly, when the suit would not equally have 
been brought in independently of the rule. But there 
is a collateral advantage in playing as advised — viz., 
that the unblocking rule frequently enables your 
partner to count your hand, as the following ex- 
amples will show : — A leads ace ; Y plays seven ; B 
(holding nine, four, three, two) plays three; Z plays 
eight. On the second round, A leads knave; Y 
plays king : B plays four ; Z plays ten. Y now 
leads another plain suit, so he is not calling for 
trumps. A notes the absence of the deuce in two 
rounds of his suit ; he can therefore count nine and 
two in B's hand. He knows his suit is established, 
and that if he leads it again before trumps are out, 
one adversary will trump and the other will discard. 



WHIST 



119 



This knowledge he could not have obtained if B had 
played the two and the three. Again: — A leads 
knave ; Y plays ace ; B (holding nine, six, five, two) 
plays five; Z plays three. When A next has the 
lead, he continues with the king of his suit; Y 
trumps ; B plays six ; Z plays four. It is possible 
that Z may have refused to complete a call for 
trumps ; but otherwise, B can be counted to remain 
with deuce and one other, and A knows that his suit 
is established. This A could not tell if B had played 
the two and the five. 

When you hold less than four cards of a suit of 
which your partner leads a high one originally, the 
unblocking rule with four cards does not apply ; but 
you should be prepared to unblock in certain cases. 
Thus : — A's original plain suit lead is ace, then nine. 
On the second round, Y plays king. B had origin- 
ally queen and two small. He should play queen- to 
the king, as A is marked with knave, ten, and at 
least one small. A should not hastily conclude from 
this play that B has no more of the suit. Again : — 
A leads queen of a plain suit from queen, knave, ten, 
etc. B holds ace, king, and one small. He unblocks 
by playing the king. This play is only sound if it is 
absolutely certain that A is a player who always 
opens the game with his strongest suit. Or:— A 
leads king or queen originally. If B holds ace, 



120 



WHIST 



knave only, he unblocks by playing ace and return- 
ing knave. With ace, knave, and one small, B 
should pass the first round. On the second round, 
if king was led, the lead was from four cards, and B 
should generally play knave, notwithstanding that 
he blocks the suit. But, if queen was led, a lead 
from more than four cards is developed, and, on the 
second round, B should play ace. And again : — A 
leads knave originally. If B holds ace and one 
small, he should play ace. If B holds ace and two 
small, he should pass the knave, and play ace on the 
second round. By deferring the unblocking, the 
third hand conveys the valuable information to his 
partner that he still holds a small card, together 
with the ace. In trumps, you should pass the 
second round, unless desirous of placing the lead in 
your partner's hand after the third round, as the 
trump suit cannot be blocked. 

If ten or nine is led origmally, and you (third 
hand) hold ace, queen only, you play ace and re- 
turn queen, and are marked with no more. If you 
hold ace, queen, and one small, you play queen and 
return ace. 

Similarly, if nine is led, and you hold king, knave 
only, you play king and return knave, not to un- 
block, but to show no more of the suit. If you play 
knave and return king, you remain with one more, 
as in the case of ace, queen, and one small. 



WHIST 



121 



You help your partner to get rid of the command 
of your suit by leading the lowest of a sequence, 
notwithstanding that it heads your suit, when you 
w^ant him to win your card if he can. , For this rea- 
son you lead knave from king, queen, knave, five in 
suit ; ace, knave from ace, queen, knave, and at least 
two small cards. In the last case, if your partner 
has king, w^hether he should put it on your knave, 
or not, depends on how many small cards of the suit 
he holds. If, when you lead knave, he remains with 
king and one small one, he should win the knave with 
the king ; but if he has king and two small ones re- 
maining, he should pass the knave as explained in 
the previous examples. Again, suppose you are left 
with knave, ten, and others of a suit, of which your 
partner can only have king and another (ace and 
queen being out), though it is uncertain whether he 
does hold the king. You would cause him to get rid 
of the king by leading the ten ; whereas, if you led 
the knave, he probably would not part with the king. 

Experienced players frequently endeavour to obtain 
the entire command of a suit ( i. to keep a sufficient 
number of winning or commanding cards in it to 
make every trick), by underplaying. Underplay is 
keeping up the winning card, generally in the second 
round of a suit, by leading a low card, though hold- 
ing the best. 



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Thus, suppose a small trump is led, and you 
(fourth player) hold ace, knave, and two small ones, 
and you win with one of the small ones. If, at a 
later period of the hand, you return a small trump, 
you will very likely cause }■ our left-hand adversary 
to Ijelieve that your partner has the ace; conse- 
quently, if your left-hand adversary has the king, he 
may not put it on ; your partner will win the second 
round with the queen, and you w^ill retain the com- 
mand of the trump suit. 

Underplay is an extempore stratagem depending 
on observation of the previous fall of the cards, and, 
therefore, best capable of explanation by examples. 
Thus : A, finding his partner strong in trumps, leads 
the seven. The king is put on by Y (second hand), 
which B (third hand) wins, holding ace, queen, ten, 
nine, eight. It is evident to B that A's seven was 
his highest trump, as the only higher one in is the 
knave, and A would never lead the seven from knave, 
seven. The king having been put on second hand, 
B concludes that Y, in all probability, holds at most 
one small trump more. The knave is, to a moral 
certainty, in Z's hand. B, by leadmg the eight on 
the second round, will probably win the trick, and 
unless Z had four trumps originally, will catch the 
knave with the queen on the third round. 

Players should be on their guard against this 



WHIST 



123 



manoeuvre, particularly when second hand, in the 
second round of a suit, they hold the second-best 
card guarded, and the adversary has been playing a 
strong game (as by leading trumps), and is left with 
the long trump, or is certain to be able to obtain the 
lead again. Then it is often right for the second 
hand to play a singly-guarded second-best card, 
especially if that is the only chance of making it. 
In the case stated in the previous paragraph, Z's 
only chance of making the knave, if singly guarded, 
is to put it on second hand. For, if the queen with 
small ones is in A's hand, A is sure to finesse on the 
return of the suit by his partner. Again, take this 
case : A leads the six of diamonds ; Y, with knave, 
ten, and a small one, puts on the ten ; B plays the 
king, and Z wins it witli the ace. Presently, A ob- 
tains the lead again, and leads the eight of diamonds. 
A, having led the lowest of his suit in the first round, 
it may be inferred that he has led from a strong suit 
— headed in this case by the queen — and that he is 
underplaying with, probably, queen and nine in his 
hand. Y should observe this, and in the second 
round should win the eight with the knave. 

Refusing to play the winning card on the first and 
second rounds of a suit — commonly called holding 
up — is, in fact, a species of underplay. For exam- 
ple: — 1. Trumps are led by the player to your left; 



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the third hand wins with the ace, and returns the 
suit through you. If you have king and one or 
more small ones remaining, you should play a small 
one, unless the circumstances of the hand are such 
that you deem it advantageous to stop the trump 
lead. The original trump leader, not knowing but 
that the king is in your partner's hand, will probably 
finesse, and your partner thus has a chance of mak- 
ing the third-best trump, even though unguarded. 
If your partner has neither second nor third best 
trump, no harm is done, as you will then probably 
make but one trick in the suit, however you play. 
2. Again, ten tricks are played, and each player is 
left with three cards of a suit not opened. If the 
second player puts on the queen (from wdiich it may 
be inferred that he holds the king also), the third 
hand should not cover with the ace. For, by w^in- 
ning the trick, he must lead up to king guarded - 
but, by passing it, he leaves the lead with the second 
player, and takes the best chance of making 
two tricks. 



Discarding 



When you cannot follow suit, you should 

11. DISCARD FROM YOUR WEAKEST SUIT 

You weaken a suit by discarding from it, and les- 
sen the number of long cards you might otherwise 
establish and bring in (i. e., make tricks with if 
trumps are out, and you obtain the lead after the 
establishment of your suit). On the other hand, you 
do but little harm by throwing from a suit in which 
you are already weak. Y^our partner should under- 
stand that your first or original discard is from your 
weakest suit, just as he understands that your original 
lead is from your strongest suit. 

But, as in the case of leads, you are sometimes 
obliged to lead from a weak suit, or to make a forced 
lead, so sometimes you have to make Si forced discard. 
Forced discards require separate consideration. 

It is clear, if the opponents declare great strength 
in trumps (by leading trumps or asking for them, as 
will be fully explained in Section 13), that your 
chance of bringing in a suit is practically nil. You 
should therefore, in such cases, abandon the tactics 

125 



125 



WHIST 



you would otherwise adopt, and play to guard your 
weaker suits, by discarding from your best protected 
suit, which is generally your longest suit. You must, 
in fact, play a defensive game. 

If this system of discarding is comprehended by 
the two pla3^ers who are partners, it follows, as a mat- 
ter of course, that when trumps are not declared against 
you, your partner will assume you are weak in the suit 
you first discard ; but, when trumps are declared against 
you, he will give you credit for strength in the suit from 
which you origincdly throw away. This is most im- 
portant, as it affects his subsequent leads. In the 
first case, he will refrain from leading the suit from 
which you have discarded ; in the second, he will, 
unless he has a very strong suit of his own, select for 
his lead the suit in which you have shown strength 
by your discard. 

It is commonly said, " Discard from your strong 
suit when the adversary leads or calls for trumps." 
But this a very imperfect and misleading aphorism. 
If you have no indications fi^om the play, and are 
obliged to discard to an adverse trump lead or call, 
you should discard from your best protected suit. 
But, if you have, or if the fall of the cards shows 
that your partner has, sufficient strength in trumps 
to outlast the adversary, the discard should be from 
the weak suit. Thus: Y, second player, calls for 



WHIST 



127 



trumps {pee p. 149), and B, third player, also calls. 
The discards of A and Z should be from their weak 
suits. For though, on the one hand, great strength 
in trumps is declared against them, on the other 
hand great strength is also declared with them. 
Again : Z deals and turns up nine of clubs. A (the 
original leader) leads a small club ; Y follows suit ; 
B puts on ace ; Z plays king. This shows that Z has 
a sequence of queen, knave, ten, nine of trumps ; and 
therefore that, though A has led a trump, he has 
anything but the command of the suit. B returns 
the trump; Z wins; Y has no more trumps. His 
discard should be from his weakest suit. The fol- 
lowing case is less easy: — The adversary (A) leads 
a tierce major in trumps, eleven trumps come out, 
and your partner (Y) must have knave of trumps to 
save the game. You now credit your partner with 
the command of trumps, though the adversary has 
led them ; and if either you (Z) or your partner (Y) 
has to discard, the discard should be from the weak- 
est suit. Similar remarks apply if a strengthening 
trump is led by an adversary from weak trumps and 
good cards in plain suits. 

It must be borne in mind that it is only your 
original discard which is directive. Having once 
discarded, you cannot undo your work by any num- 
ber of discards from another suit. Also, having once 



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led a suit, you have declared strength in it; and sub- 
sequent discards from that suit do not alter the fact 
that it was originally your strongest suit. 

It is dangerous to unguard an honour, or to blank 
an ace ; and, also, to discard a single card when the 
game is in an undeveloped stage, as it exposes your 
weakness almost as soon as the suit is led. But, 
when you see that there is a probability of strength 
in trumps on your side, direct your partner to your 
strong suit by all the means in your power, and un- 
hesitatingly unguard an honour, or throw a single 
card. Of course, if strength in trumps is against 
you, these are the very last cards you should think 
of throwing away. 

When your left-hand adversary will have the lead 
next round, if you discard from a suit in which you 
hold a tenace, you may possibly induce him to lead 
that suit up to you. You must be on your guard 
against this ruse, and not necessarily lead up to the 
discard of your right-hand opponent. 

The same principle applies to trumping as to dis- 
carding. The weaker you are in trumps, the better 
it is for you to make a little one by trumping, as will 
be further explained in Section 14. 



The Conversation of the Game 



12. AFFOED INFOEMATION BY YOUR PLAY 

It has several times been assumed in the preceding 
pages that you should convey information by your 
play. The question naturally arises, Hoio is it that a 
player gains any advantage by publishing information 
to the table f It is often argued, and with much show 
of reason, that as almost every revelation concerning 
your hand must be given to the whole table, and that 
as you have two adversaries and only one partner, 
you publish information at a disadvantage. No 
doubt this argument would have considerable force 
if you were compelled to expose the whole of your 
hand. But you possess the power, to a great extent, 
of selecting what facts shall be announced and what 
concealed. 

Experienced players are unanimous in admitting 
that it is an advantage to inform your partner of 
strength in your own suits, though some advise con- 
cealment of strength in suits in which the adversaries 
have shown strength. Thus, with ace, king, second 
hand, the usual play is to put on the king. The third 
hand does not win the king, and hence the leader is 
y 129 



130 



WHIST 



able to infer that the ace of his strong suit is against 
him. But, if you put on the ace second hand, you 
prevent the leader from discovering where the king 
of his suit lies. It is, however, found that two hon- 
ours in the adversary's suit constitute suthcient 
strength to make it advantageous in the long run to 
proclaim your force ; while, with less strength, it is 
not easy to mystifs^ the opponents prejudicially ; so 
that, on the whole, it seldom happens that a balance 
of gain results from the adoption of deceptive play. 

Occasionally, however, a false card may be played 
with a special object. For instance: ace is turned up 
to your right, and, when the dealer gets in, he leads 
a small trump. If you, second hand, have king, 
queen only, you would be justitied in playing the 
king in hopes of inducing the trump leader to tinesse 
on the return of the suit. Or, take this case : your 
left-hand adversary leads originally the five of his 
strong suit, from king, ten, seven, five. Your partner 
plays the six ; third hand plays ace. You, holding 
queen, knave, nine, eight, four, three, play the three. 
Your right-hand opponent now leads trumps : all the 
trumps come out. The player to your right next re- 
turns the deuce of his partner s suit. The original 
lead being fi'om a four-card suit, king, ten, seven, re- 
main in the leader s hand. If you play knave, the 
original leader will place queen in your hand, and 



WHIST 



131 



will hesitate to go on with the suit. But, if you play 
queen, he will put knave and at least one small one 
in his partner's hand. Then if, under this impres- 
sion, he continues the suit, you bring it in. 

It is in most cases unquestionably disadvantageous 
to you that the whole table should be aware of your 
being very weak in a particular suit, and, conse- 
quently, information of weakness should be withheld 
as long as possible. If you are led up to fourth hand 
in such a suit, or if your partner opens the suit 
with a small card, of course the disclosure is inevi- 
table; but until one of these events happens your 
poverty can generally be kept out of sight. It may 
happen that you are occasionally forced to lead a 
weak suit yourself ; and in this event the least disad- 
vantage, on the whole, is to tell the truth at once, by 
first leading the highest of it. Your partner, aj3- 
prised of the state of your hand by the fall of your 
smaller card on the subsequent round, will probably 
deem it prudent to strive by defensive tactics to avert 
total defeat in that suit, rather than to contend single- 
handed against the combined strength of the oppo- 
nents. But, at critical points of the game, it is often 
right to conceal weakness. Thus, toward the end of 
a hand, it is necessary that your partner should make 
a couple of tricks in an unopened suit, of which you 
hold two or three little cards. You should lead the 



132 



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lowest. If you lead the highest, the adversaries will 
suspect your weakness at once, and will be sure of it 
on the second round. Their efforts will then be di- 
rected to preventing your partner from making the 
required tricks in that suit. Your left-hand adver- 
sary will not finesse; and if your partner is led 
through, your right-hand adversary merely covers, 
or plaj's the lowest card he has, higher than the one 
you first led. 

When your partner has exhibited weakness in one 
or more suits, you would h^equently be justified in 
playing a false card. You are driven to rely solely 
on yourself, and are entitled to adopt every artifice 
your ingenuitj^ can suggest in order to perplex the 
other side. The consideration that you may mislead 
your partner will no longer influence you, as you 
know him to be powerless for good or for evil. 

You inform your partner by following the recog- 
nized practice of the game, e.g.^ by leading as advised 
in the Analysis of Leads ; by playing your lowest 
card when not attempting to win the trick ; and so 
forth. If you adhere to this, you will soon acquire 
a reputation for playing a straightforward intelligible 
game ; and this character alone will counterbalance 
the disadvantage which will sometimes attach to the 
fact that you have enabled the adversaries to read 
your hand. If your partner knows that you play at 



WHIST 



183 



random and without method, he will be in a state of 
constant uncertainty ; and you almost preclude him 
from executing any of the finer strokes of play, the 
opportunities for which generally arise from being 
able to infer with confidence the position of particular 
cards. The extreme case of two skilled players 
against two unskilled ones amounts almost to this, 
that toward the close of a hand the former have the 
same advantage as though they had seen each other's 
cards, while the latter have not. 

It follows that when you are unfortunately tied to 
an untaught partner, especially if at the same time 
you are pitted against observant adversaries, you 
should expose your hand as little as possible, par- 
ticularly in respect of minor details. 

It will become apparent, on consideration, that the 
question of the advisability of affording information 
is more or less intimately connected with every card 
that is played. It is, therefore, of extreme import- 
ance to ascertain whether the practice is advantageous 
or the reverse. The arguments just adduced are 
doubtless in favour of the practice of affording in- 
formation by the play ; but it must be admitted that 
by far the strongest authority for it is that experi- 
enced players, by their settled opinions, reject the 
opposite course. 

The instructed player frequently selects one card 



134 



WHIST 



in preference to another with the sole object of afford- 
ing information. When the principle is carried thus 
far, the play becomes purely conventional. For ex- 
ample : you naturally win a trick as cheaply as pos- 
sible ; if, fourth hand, you could win with a ten, you 
would not waste an ace. But suppose you hold 
knave and ten, which card should then be played ? 
The knave and ten in one hand are of equal value, 
and therefore to win with the knave would be no 
unnecessary sacrifice of strength. Nevertheless, you 
extend to such cases the rule of winning as cheaply 
as possible, and you play the ten for the mere pur- 
pose of conveying information. This is a simple in- 
stance of pure convention. Again : the system of 
returning the higher of two losing cards (see pp. 
95-6) when they are both small cards, is purely con- 
ventional. To take another case: after two rounds 
of your four-card suit, you are left with two losing 
cards, say the six and the seven, and you, having the 
lead, are about to continue the suit ; you should lead 
the six, not the seven, in accordance with the rule 
that you lead the lowest card of a suit, except with 
commanding strength. This being the convention, 
if you lead the seven, your partner will infer that 
you cannot hold the six, and will suppose that you 
led fi'om a three-card suit, in consequence of excep- 
tional circumstances ; if he is a good player he will 



WHIST 



135 



miscount all the hands, probably to your mutual 
discomfiture. 

Whist conventions, it will be observed, are in ac- 
cordance with, and are suggested by, principle. In- 
deed, all the established conventions. of the game are 
so chosen as to harmonize with play that would 
naturally be adopted independently of convention. 
The aggregation of the recognized rules of play, in- 
cluding the established conventions,, constitutes what 
in practice is called the Conversation of the Game of 
Whist. 

It must not be overlooked that unsound players 
often deceive unintentionally, and all players some- 
times with intention. It is, therefore, necessary 
to be on your guard against drawing inferences too 
rigidly. 

There are some ways of conveying information 
which have not been explained. For example : — If 
you have the complete command of a suit, you can 
publish the fact by discarding the highest of it ; the 
presumption being that you would never throw away 
a winning card with a losing one in your hand. If 
you discard a second-best card of a suit of which 
your partner does not know you to hold a long se- 
quence, you ought to have no more of the suit, for 
with the best also you would discard that, and with 
a smaller one you vrould discard that. By winning 



136 



WHIST 



with the highest and returning the lowest of a se- 
quence (more especially fourth hand), you show that 
you have the intermediate cards. Thus, with ace, 
king, queen, fourth hand, if you desire to continue 
the suit; and at the same time to show that you still 
remain with the winning card, you would win with 
the ace and return the queen. Again, as long as you 
keep the turn-up card in hand, your partner knows 
Yv'here it is ; so. having turned up a nine and holding 
the ten, trump with the ten in preference. This rule, 
however, is liable to exceptions. With very small 
trumps, of equal value, trumjjing with the higher 
card may be mistaken for an exhibition of four or 
five trumps ; also, if you are weak in trumps, and 
the adversaries have shown strength in them, it is not 
advisable to keep the turn-up card : for. if the adver- 
saries know you have it in your hand, they will 
draw it. whereas, if you play it, they may be uncer- 
tain as to your holding another. If you open a suit 
of ace, king only, it must be a forced lead, to which 
you would only resort at a late period of the hand. 
You then adopt the rule of leading the highest of a 
numerically weak suit, and first lead the ace. This 
shows your partner (unless you have akeady been 
forced, when you lead the ace before king for other 
reasons), that you have no more of the suit. Also, 
by leading the lowest of a head sequence of winning 



WHIST 



187 



trumps, you convey information. Thus, you lead a 
small trump, partner plays queen, won with king. 
You remain with ace, knave, ten. On obtaining the 
lead, you continue with the ten, and when it wins, 
you have shown two by honours (unless ace is held 
up, which is unlikely). If you continue with ace, as 
in plain suits, your partner can tell nothing about the 
knave and ten. You may pursue the same method 
in plain suits when your partner has no more trumps, 
and with any head sequence when you want him to 
win the trick, or are sure he cannot, and also when 
the fourth hand has already renounced in the suit 
led. 

A most valuable mode of conveying very precise 
information of strength is within the reach of those 
who adopt the mode of leading advised at pp. 78-86. 
As some of these leads have been questioned, it may 
be stated that, in the opinion of the Author, they are 
advantageous when played by partners comprehend- 
ing them, and that they form a system in harmony 
with established principles. 

With regard to this system as applied to leading a 
high card of your strong suit after a high card, no 
one disputes the advantage of leading ace, then 
queen, from ace, queen, knave, and one small card : 
and of leading ace, then knave, from ace, queen, 
knave, and more than one small card. In the case 



138 



WHIST 



of the four-card suit, you select the higher card to 
tell your partner not to play the king, as you have 
not sufficient numerical power to defend the suit 
single-handed. In the case of a suit of more than 
four cards, you select the lower card that your part- 
ner may not retain the command of your suit, and 
may play the king, should he happen to have held 
king and two small ones originally. For a similar 
reason, it is obvious that with queen, knave, ten, and 
one small card, you should follow queen with knave ; 
with queen, knave, ten, and more than one small card, 
you should follow queen with ten. 

Xow, here is a germ of a principle of play. 
Holding two high indifferent cards, and only four of 
your suit, your second lead is the higher card ; hold- 
ing more than four, your second lead is the lower 
card. 

For the sake of uniformity, you should pursue the 
same plan in all cases where, after your first lead, 
you remain with two high indifferent cards. Thus, 
your original lead is a ten, from king, knave, ten, and 
one or more small cards. The queen is played to 
your ten. You have the lead again, and it is imma- 
terial, so far as establishing the suit is concerned, 
whether you proceed with the king or with the 
knave. But, if your practice is uniform, and in ac- 
cordance with the practice which obtams m the case 



WHIST 



139 



of ace, queen, knave, and of queen, knave, ten, j'ou 
can inform your partner whether you led from a suit 
of four cards or of more than four cards. If you 
continue with the king, the higher of two indifferent 
cards, you led from king, knave, ten,. and one small 
card ; if you continue with the knave, the lower of 
two indifferent cards, you led from king, knave, ten, 
and more than one small card. 

With regard to the system, as applied to opening 
your strong suit with a low card, those who have 
already adopted the penultimate lead from suits of 
five cards, will have no difficulty in again discover- 
ing the germ of a principle of play. The fourth-best 
card of your suit is led from suits of four cards, and 
from suits of five cards. 

You have only to apply the same rule to suits of 
more than five cards, and to lead your fourth-best 
card. You then pursue a uniform practice, and at 
the same time convey information which may be 
very useful. 

As an illustration, take this suit— queen, ten, nine, 
eight. You lead the eight. Now suppose your suit 
to be queen, ten, nine, eight, three. You still lead 
the eight. Now add one more card. Your suit is 
queen, ten, nine, eight, three, two. You should still 
lead the eight. No doubt, a careful player would 
lead the eight, as a card of protection, even if system- 



140 



WHIST 



atic leads had never been thought of. With lower 
cards, such as queen, nine, eight, seven, three, two, it 
is possible a careful player might lead the seven ; 
and with still lower cards, where is he to stop ? The 
knot is cut by the very simple and uniform rule of 
leading the fourth-best, without reference to the possi- 
bility of its being a card of protection. 

The more the sj^stem of leading, developed at pp. 
78-86, is examined, the more thorough it will be 
found. Care, however, m.ust be taken, with leads 
late in a hand, not to confuse a fourth-best lead with 
a forced lead of the highest card of a weak suit. The 
fourth-best rule only applies, in its integrity, to the 
original lead, — or after one or more tricks have been 
played, to the original lead of the player's own choice. 
Also, it may be, that the leader, with very strong 
cards in all plain suits, starts by leading a strength- 
ening trump. The uncertainty of the real character 
of the lead, in this ca^e, is no doubt unfavourable ; 
but the advantage of frequently being able to give 
information of great numerical strength far outweighs 
this occasional danger. 

When you are forced, and proceed to lead high 
trumps, the cards led should indicate how many 
trumps you now hold (not how many you held 
originally). If you proceed to lead a low trump, it 
should be the fourth-best of those remaining in hand 



WHIST 



141 



after trumping with your lowest. It may be that 
you deem it right to lead a low trump after being 
forced, when you have but three remaining. Such 
a lead can only be called for owing to the state of 
the score, or to the previous fall of the cards. Under 
such circumstances, your partner should not neces- 
sarily credit you with four trumps after being forced, 
because you led your lowest. If you take a force 
when you have five trumps, and do not intend to 
lead a trump after the force, you should generally 
trump with your fourth-best. When your lowest is 
afterwards played, it indicates five trumps originally, 
and does not constitute a call for trumps (see p. 150). 

The modern system of leading should be aban- 
doned when an opponent has shown such strength in 
trumps, that it is not advisable for you to let him 
count your hand precisely. This is a matter of 
judgment, for which no rule can be laid down. 



Trumps 



THE MAXAGE^IEXT OF TROIPS 

The Management of Trumps is. perhaps, the most 
difficult of the problems presented to the Whist- 
player. Before discussing the special uses of trumps, 
it may be observed that in some few hands trumps 
are led like plain suits, because they are your 
strongest suit, and you prefer leading them to open- 
ing a weak suit. The principles already discussed, 
which guide us to the most favourable chances for 
making tricks in a suit, apply to trumps equally with 
other suits. The privilege, however, enjoyed l:>y the 
trump suit of winning every other, causes some modi- 
fications of detail (noticed at pp. 78-86, and at pp. 
101-105) ; for, since the winning trumps must make 
tricks, you j^lay a more l )ackward game in the trump 
suit. Thus with ace. king, and small trumps, you 
lead a small one, by which you ol ^tain an increased 
chance of making tricks in the suit, and you keep 
the command of it, and must have the lead after the 
third round, the advantage of which will be presently 
explained. Even if your partner is so weak in 
trumps that the oppunent wins the first trick very 

142 



WHIST 



143 



cheaply, but little (if any) harm accrues ; for the 
opponent then has to open a suit up to you or your 
partner. 

In the great majority of hands, trumps are applied 
to their special uses, viz. : 1. To disarm- the opponents, 
and to prevent their trumping your winning cards ; 
and, 2. To trump the winning cards of the adversa- 
ries. In order to comprehend when trumps may be 
most profitably applied to the first, and when to the 
second, of these uses, we must first clearly perceive 
the objects aimed at throughout the hand, viz. : to 
establish a suit, to exhaust the adversaries' trumps, 
and to retain the long trump, or a certain winning 
card with which to get the lead again, for the purpose 
of bringing in tlie suit ; also to endeavour to obstruct 
similar designs of the opponents. It follows that you 
should 

13. LEAD TRUMPS WHEN VERY STROXG IN THEM 

It cannot be too strongly impressed that the primary 
use of strength in trumps is to draw the adversaries^ 
trumps for the bringing in of your oivn or your partner^ s 
long suit. With great strength in trumps (five or 
more), you may proceed at once to disarm the op- 
ponents, and lead trumps without waiting to establish 
a suit. For, with five trumps or more, the chance 
of your succeeding in drawing the other trumps, and 



144 



WHIST 



of being left with the long trumps is so considerable, 
that you may then almost always lead trumps, what- 
ever your other cards. The exceptional hands are 
principally those which contain five trumps without 
an honour, and five small cards of a plain suit ; or 
five trumps without an honour, and four middling 
cards of one plain suit, together with four bad cards 
of another plain suit. But if the adversaries are at 
the score of three, you should lead a trump with 
these hands, as your partner must have two honours, 
or very good cards out of trumps, for you to save the 
game. 

If you are at the score of three, the adversaries 
being love, one, or two, you should not lead a trumjD 
merely because you have five trumps ^vith two 
honours, if they are unaccompanied by a very strong 
suit, or by good cards in each suit. For here, if your 
partner has an honour, you probably win the game 
in any case ; and if he has no honour you open the 
trump suit to a disadvantage. Some good players, 
however, do not allow this to be an exceptional case. 
The turn-up card may sometimes cause you to re- 
frain ft-om leading trumps from five. Thus : you 
have king, ten, nine, six, and four of spades (trumps) ; 
ace, queen, and three small diamonds; and three 
small hearts. You are four, and the ace of spades is 
turned up. In the opinion of most players, the ace 



WHIST 



145 



of diamonds is the best original lead ; but, if an ace 
were not turned up, you should lead a trump. 

It is often said, even by pretty good players, 
" Strength in trumps is no reason for leading them, 
unless you have a good suit as well.'' If both you 
and your partner are devoid of good cards you can- 
not make tricks ; but should your partner hold one 
good suit out of three, you will very likely bring it 
in for him by leading from strength in trumps. For, 
even if you have a poor hand out of trumps, you 
will discover in the course of play (i. e., by the suits 
led or discarded by the other players), what your 
partner s suit is, and will be able to lead it to him 
each time you get the lead with your long trumps. 
Besides, if your hand is weak out of trumps, you are 
placed in the disadvantageous position of leading 
from a weak suit unless you lead trumps. 

You should not be deterred from leading trumps 
because an honour is turned up to your right, nor 
necessarily lead them because the same happens to 
your left ; either is proper if the circumstances of 
the hand require it, but neither otherwise. To illus- 
trate this proposition, take this hand: ace, queen, 
and three small spades (trumps), three small hearts, 
three small clubs, and two small diamonds. The 
king of spades is turned up fourth hand. The best 
lead is disputed ; but the Author has no hesitation 
10 



146 



WHIST 



in advising the lead of a small trump, notwithstand- 
ing that there is a certain finesse over the king. A 
little consideration will render this apparent. By 
leading the trump suit originally you obtain the ad- 
vantages just enumerated and make the dealer open 
a suit up to your partner. Your partner, as soon as 
he has the lead, will return the trump, and you thus 
obtain the command of trumps whether the king 
was forced out in the first round or not. 

Bearing in mind the severe consequences of leav- 
ing the adversary with the long trump, you must be 
cautious in leading trumps from less than five ; four 
trumps and a moderate hand not justifying an origi- 
nal trump lead. You should, instead, lead your 
strong plain suit, and if you establish it, and the ad- 
versaries do not meantime show any great strength, 
as by leading or calling for trumps (pp. 149-152), 
you may then, with four trumps, mostly venture a 
trump lead. With strength in trumps you may 
generally finesse more freely in the second and 
third rounds of trumps than you would in plain 
suits. In plain suits an unsuccessful finesse may 
result in the best card being afterwards trumped, 
which cannot happen in trumps. Moreover, by 
finessing, you keep the winning trump, and so obtain 
the lead after the third round. This is especially im- 
portant when you have a suit established and but 



WHIST 



147 



four trumps. Here you should, generally, not merely 
finesse in the second round, but hold up the win- 
ning trump, and sometimes at this juncture refuse to 
part with it even if tlie trump lead comes from the 
adversary. 

An example will render this more clear. The 
leader (A) has ace, and three small trumps, a strong 
suit, headed by ace, king, queen, and a probable 
trick, say king and another, in a third suit, A 
should, in the writer's judgment, lead a trump. 
If B (A's partner) win« the first trick in trumps, 
and returns a strengthening trump, A, as a rule, 
should not part with his ace. When A or B obtain 
the lead again they play a third round of trumps, 
which, being won by the ace, enables A, by leading 
his tierce major, to get a force (i. to compel one of 
his adversaries to trump in order to win the trick), in 
which case nothing short of five trumps in one hand 
against him can prevent A's bringing in his suit. You 
must be prepared for similar tactics on the part of 
the adversaries, and not conclude that they have not 
the best trump because they suffer you to win the 
first or second round. 

With a well protected hand containing four 
trumps, two being honours, a trump may be led 
originally. For here the chance of gaining by the 
trump lead may be taken as greater than the chance 



148 



WHIST 



of losing. Thus with queen, knave, and two small 
trumps, a four suit with an honour, say, for example, 
knave, ten, nine, and a small one, king guarded in 
the third suit and queen guarded in the fourth, a 
small trump, if it finds partner with an honour, is by 
no means unlikely to win the game. If partner turns 
out very weak in trumps the leader must alter his 
plan, and, instead of continuing the trump lead, play 
to make three, five, or seven tricks according to the 
fall of the cards in plain suits. 

Trump leads, without strength in trumps, can only 
be right in consequence of some special circumstance 
in the state of the game or of the score. For in- 
stance, great commanding strength in all the plain 
suits may call for a trump lead ; or it may be neces-' 
sitated to stop a cross-ruff (/. the alternate trump- 
ing by partners of different suits, each leading the 
suit in which the other renounces), in which case it . 
is generally advisable to take out two rounds if 
possible ; so with the winning trump you play it 
out, whatever your others are. Again, if you have 
a wretched hand, and you are love to three or four, 
you assume that the game is lost, unless your part- 
ner is very strong ; and if he is very strong, the 
trump is the best lead for him. This doctrine is fre- 
quently carried to excess, as, by concealing your 
weakness, you often stand a better chance of saving 



WHIST 



149 



a point, if not the game, than by at once exposing 
it. If, therefore, you have one four suit, headed 
by an honour, you would generally .do better to 
choose that. 

The trump lead is so much more important than 
any other that you should almost always return your 
partner's lead of trumps immediately, except he has 
led from weakness, when you are not bound to re- 
turn it unless it suits your hand. 

If you find one of the adversaries without a trump, 
you should mostly proceed to establish your long 
suit, and abstain from drawing two trumps for one ; 
to say nothing of the probability that the adversary 
who has not renounced is unusually strong in trumps. 
Besides, when he has the lead, he will very likely 
lead trumps in order to draw two for one ; and it is 
more advantageous to you that the lead should 
come from him. On the other hand, if your partner 
has no trump, it is often right to endeavour to weaken 
the adversaries by continuing even their trump lead. 

It is a common artifice, if you wish a trump to be 
led, to drop a high card to the adversarj''s lead, to 
induce him to believe that you will trump it next 
round, whereupon the leader will very likely change 
the suit, and perhaps lead trumps. Tiius, if he leads 
king (from ace, king, and others), and you hold 
queen and one other, it is evident that you cannot 



150 



WHIST 



make tlie queen. If you throw the queen to his 
king, he may lead a trump to prevent your trump- 
ing his ace ; but if he goes on with the suit, and you 
drop your small card, it may fairly be inferred that 
you have been endeavoring to persuade him to lead 
a trump. Your jDartner should now take the hint, 
and^ if he obtains the lead, lead trumps ; for if you 
want them led, it is of little consequence from whom 
the lead comes. Bj^ a conventional extension of this 
system to lower cards it is understood that, when- 
ever you throw away an iinnecessarili/ high card, it is 
a sign (after the smaller card drops) that you want 
trumps led. This is called asking for trumps or call- 
ing for trumps, 

When you ask for trumps you command your 
partner to abandon his own game, and to lead a 
trump ; and you promise him, in return, if he has 
reasonably good cards, either to win the game or to 
make a considerable score. It has been laid down 
that the minimum strength in trumps which justifies 
you in issuing such an order to your partner is four 
trumps, two being honours, or five trumps, one being 
an honour, acccompanied by such cards in your own 
or your partner's suits that you are reasonably secure 
of not having a suit brought in against you. This 
rule, however, only applies to an original ask. If 
you have had the lead, and have not led a trump, or 



WHIST 



151 



if you have had an opportunity of asking, and have 
not asked, and you then ask for trumps at a later 
period of the hand, the ask is not a command, like 
an original one, nor does it necessarily imply the 
possession of the minimum strength above stated. It 
merely means that, from the fall of the cards, you 
consider a trump lead would be very advantageous. 
For example, you hold ace and a small spade ; king, 
ten, and two small hearts (trumps) ; queen and two 
email clubs ; and knave, ten, and two other diamonds. 
You lead a small diamond ; your partner plays the 
queen; the fourth hand plays the ace. A small 
club is now led through you. You should ask for 
trumps. 

When your partner asks for trumps, and you have 
four or more at the time you obtain the lead, lead 
the smallest, unless you have the ace, or three hon- 
ours, or queen, knave, ten ; if you have only two or 
three trumps when you obtain the lead, lead from 
the highest downwards, whatever they are. 

Before answering the ask, be sure that the higher 
card, previously dropped, is iinneccssririly high. For 
instance, a higher card is often played before a lower 
to show that you command the suit, or that you 
hold the intermediate cards, or to unblock your 
partner's suit. It is very important to distingui^li 
between covering second hand and discarding an un-^ 



152 



WHIST 



necessarily high card. For example: with knave, 
ten, and one other (say the three), it is usual to play 
the ten second hand on a small card. When your 
three comes down in the next round, it is not an ask 
for trumps, unless your partner can infer that you do 
not hold the knave. Moderate players, who know 
of the ask, never consider this ; so with them the 
choice of the least evil is generally not to cover, for 
you otherwise run the terrible risk of having a 
strengthening trump led to you with a weak hand. 
To ask for trumps, second hand, with knave, ten, and 
one other, you must play the knave. 

When your partner leads a trump, or asks for 
trumps, if you have numerical strength in trumps, 
you should ask at the first opportunity. This is 
called the echo of the call, though it is made use of 
also in response to a lead. 

The advantages of the echo are manifold. Your 
partner being strong in trumps may hesitate to take 
a force, but your echo enables him to do so without 
fear, and to persevere with the trump lead. Or, 
your partner may be in doubt after the second round 
of trumps as to the policy of playing a third. But 
if he can count two more trumps in your hand he 
will be directed. Thus : eight are out, your partner 
has three more ; you have echoed. He will know 
that the other two are m your hand, and will not 



WHIST 



153 



draw two for none, as, without the echo, he might 
do. 

The negative advantage of the echo should not be 
overlooked. Thus: to take the same case of eight 
trumps being out, and the leader with three more 
trumps. You (his partner) have had the chance of 
sounding an echo, but have not done so. The leader 
knows that you have not both the remaining trumps, 
and he will regulate his game accordingly. 

To your partner's trump lead you echo in the 
trump suit ; the same if partner calls, and you are 
forced. Thus : you have eight, seven, five, two of 
trumps ; your left-hand adversary leads king, ace of 
a suit of which you only hold one. Your partner 
calls. You echo, by trumping with the five, and 
you then lead the eight. On the second round of 
trumps, when your deuce falls, the echo is completed. 
Your partner knows that you have one more trump, 
either the six or the seven. If you had not echoed, 
he might not be able to tell for certain whether you 
hold another trump or not. 

If you have four trumps and are forced, and your 
partner then leads or asks for trumps, you should 
echo, notwithstanding that you no longer have nu- 
merical strength. 

The sub-echo shows the original possession of three 
trumps,, when you have already shown you could 



154 



WHIST 



not hold four, by the value of the cards you lead or 
play after your partner's trump lead or call. Thus, 
you play the two to his first lead of trumps, or lead 
or return a strengthening trump, in each case show- 
ing you could not hold four. If you afterwards 
echo in a plain suit, you declare three originally. 
Or, if you refuse to echo in the plain suit first led 
after your partner's call or lead, and echo in the 
second ; or, if you defer the completion of an echo 
to the third round of a plain suit (playing, say three, 
then four, and lastly the two of that suit), you have 
sub-echoed, and had three trumps originally. 

The use of strength in trumps being to disarm the 
opponents, it follows that you should as much as 
possible husband your strength for that purpose. 
Therefore when second player, 

14. DO NOT THUMP A DOUBTFUL CAKD IF STEOXG 
IX TEUMPS 

By a doubtful card is meant a card of a suit of 
which your partner may have the best. 

Whether you should trump or refuse to trump a 
doubtful card depends almost entirely on your 
strength in trumps. It has already been mentioned 
that it is an advantage to trump when you are weak, 
for you thus make a little trump, which is not avail- 
able for the otbor n-o^ of truinp?. and which, if not 



WHIST 



155 



used for tramping, will presently be drawn by the 
strong hand. It is conversely a disadvantage to 
trump a doubtful card when you are strong in 
trumps, for by trumping you weaken your numerical 
power, and diminish the probability df your bringing 
in a suit. If, instead of trumping, you throw away 
a losing card, you inform your partner that you have 
strength in trumps, and also, by your discard, what 
your strong suit is; and if your partner has any 
strength in the suit led, you leave him in a favourable 
position. 

If you refuse to overtrump, or to trump a certain 
winning card, your partner should conclude either 
that you have no trump, or more probably four 
trumps and a powerfal hand besides. If he con- 
cludes that you are reserving your trumps to 
bring in a suit, he should assist you by leading 
trumps as soon as he can. A refusal to be thus 
forced is seldom requisite if you have more than four 
trumps ; with six you are mostly strong enough to 
trump and to lead trumps ; with five you may do the 
same, if your suit is established ; but if not it is gen- 
erally best to take the force, and to lead your suit. 

The situations in w^hich it is most necessary to re- 
fuse to overtrump your right-hand adversary, or to 
refuse to trum^p a winning card, occur when you 
have four trumps and a very strong suit, or a suit 



156 



WHIST 



established early in a hand. For then, by trumping, 
you prejudice your chance of bringing in the suit in 
order to secure one triclv. By refusing to part with 
a trump in these cases, you obtain the advantages 
just enumerated, at the time when they are most 
likely to become of service ; and, where you refuse 
to overtrump, your adversary is left with one trump 
less, by which your hand is strengthened. 

Many players run into the extreme of always re- 
fusing to be forced by a winning card when they are 
strong in trumps. The situations, however, just in- 
dicated, are almost the only ones in which it answers 
to hold up ; and these even are liable to several ex- 
ceptions. For instance: — 1. You should not persist 
in refusing to be forced if you find that the adversary 
has the entire command of his suit. 2. You should 
not refuse if your partner evidently intends to force 
you ; and, 3. You should not refuse to overtrump 
if you have reason to believe that your left-hand ad- 
versary is strong in trumps. 

With an untaught partner it is useless to refuse to 
trump ; he will not understand it, but will continue 
to force you. With such, the best course is rather to 
make tricks when you can than to play for a great 
game. 

From what has just been saidj it is evidently an 
advantage to 



WHIST 



157 



15. FORCE A STRONG TRUMP HAND OF THE 
ADVERSARY 

For you thereby take the best chance of prevent- 
ing his making use of his trumps for bringing in a 
suit. If he refuses to take a force, keep on giving it 
to him. 

For instance, if he passes your king (led from 
king, queen, etc.) and the king wins, continue the 
suit, and so on. Some players can never be brought 
to understand this ; they do not like to see their 
winning cards trumped, and therefore frequently 
change their suit or even lead trumps when an ad- 
versary refuses to be forced. 

It now hardly requires to be stated that it is bad 
play intentionally to force a weak adversary, and 
still worse to lead a suit to which both adversaries 
renounce, as the weak will trump and the strong get 
rid of a losing card. 

If you have numerical strength in trumps, you are 
justified in forcing your partner, relying on your own 
strength to disarm the opponents. But 

16. DO NOT FORCE YOUR PARTNER IF YOU ARE 
WEAK IN TRUMPS 

For you thus weaken him, and leave it in the power 
of the antagonists to draw all the trumps, and bring 
in their suit. If, then, a good partner refrains from 



158 



WHIST 



forcing you, you may be sure he is weak; on the 
other hand, if he evidently intends to force you (as 
by leading a losing card of a suit he knows you must 
trump), you may assume that he is strong in trumps, 
and you should take the force willingly, even though 
you do not want to be forced, depending on his 
strength to exhaust the adversaries' trumps. 

You may, however, though w^eak, force your part- 
ner under these circumstances : 1. When he has al- 
ready shown a desire to be forced, or weakness in 
trumps, as by trumping a doubtful card, or by refrain- 
ing from forcing you. 2. When you have a cross-ruff, 
which secures several tricks at once, and is therefore 
often more advantageous than trying to establish a 
suit. 3, Sometimes when you are playing a close 
game, as for the odd trick, and often when one trick 
saves or wins the game or a point. And 4. Some- 
times when great strength in trumps has been de- 
clared against you. 

If your partner leads a thirteenth card, or a card 
of a suit in which he knows that both you and the 
fourth player renounce, your play must depend on 
your partner's strength in trumps. If he is strong, he 
wants you to put on your best trump, either to make 
the trumps separately, or to force out one or two high 
ones, to leave himself with the command. If he is 
weak in trumps, he wants you to pass the card, that 



WHIST 



169 



the fourth player may obtain the lead, and lead up to 
your hand. No general rule can be given as to the 
course to be pursued with regard to thirteenth cards. 
You must judge of the leader's intention by the score 
and the previous fall of the cards. 



Playing to the Board 



17. PLAY TO THE SCOEE 

AND 

18. WATCH THE FALL OF THE CARDS, AND DRAW 
YOUR INFERENCES AT THE TIME 

These two all-important principles have already- 
been mentioned as causing differences in the play. 
The commonest form in which the former is pre- 
sented is this : At the score of love-all five tricks 
save the game against two by honours. It is sound 
play, therefore, when two by honours have been de- 
clared against you, to make the fifth trick by leading 
a winning card, or by putting one on second or 
third hand. 

Again : — it is generally right to play for the odd 
trick, as that trick makes a difference of two to the 
score. To take a simple case. Love-all ; all the 
trumps out; two cards in each hand, viz., seven clubs 
and one heart. Clubs have been led once, and your 
partner (then third hand), won the trick with the 
ace. Y^our partner now leads a small club. The 
second hand plays a small club, and you, third 

160 



WHIST 



161 



hand, hold king, knave. It is evident that the queen 
of clubs, and the thirteenth heart are both against 
you ; but there is nothing to show how these cards 
lie as regards the hands of the opponents. If you 
have six tricks up, you should make sure of the odd 
trick, by playing the king of clubs ; if you have five 
tricks up, you should risk the loss of the remaining 
tricks, and finesse the knave. 

To explain further what is meant by playing to 
the score, put yourself in this situation. Four 
trumps remain in, the adversaries have two winning 
trumps, it being uncertain whether they are in one 
hand or divided ; you have the two losing trumps, 
two forcing cards, and the lead ; you can only play 
correctly by referring to the score. Thus, if the 
adversary is at four, and you have won five, or even 
six tricks, your game would be to secure two tricks 
by forcing; for if you play a trump and the two 
against you are in the same hand, you lose the game. 
But suppose you are at the point of two, and the 
adversaries are not at four, and you have won six 
tricks, your game would be to risk the trump ; for if 
you bring down, the other trumps you win the game ; 
but by playing to force you make certain of scoring 
only four. By applying this mode of reasoning you 
will often be directed as to a finesse late in a hand. 

For simple examples of drawing inferences at the 
11 



162 



WHIST 



time from the fall of the cards, take the following : — 1. 
You lead a small card from the ace, knave, etc. ; your 
partner wins with the queen ; you should immediately 
(i. e., before another card is led) infer that the king 
cannot be with your right-hand adversary. Hence, 
on the return of the suit, you would not finesse the 
knave. 2. You are second player, and a suit is led 
in which you have king, ten, and one small one. You 
play the small one. The third hand plays the queen, 
which is won with the ace. You should at once infer 
that the third hand cannot have the knave, and that 
you may safely finesse the ten next round. 

You will greatly assist your memory by systemati- 
cally recording inferences in the above manner. In 
addition to this you should apply your knowledge of 
the principles to noting important points, not at- 
tempting too much at first. Begin by counting the 
trumps as they fall, and notice, at all events, the 
honours, and remember the turn-up card. By degrees 
you will find yourself able to recollect the ten and 
nine, and then the smaller trumps. Next attend to 
the suit led originally by each player, and watch in 
the second round whether the lead was from strength 
or weakness. Try also to remember the fall of the 
cards in your own strong suit, that you may know 
when it is established. Beyond this, experience will 
enable you to judge what to retain and what to reject 



WHIST 



163 



in each hand ; so that, with practice, you will acquire 
what may be termed Whist memory, which will enable 
you, without any great effort, to recollect the princi- 
pal features of every hand. 

The fall of the cards may, one time or anotlier, 
modify nearly every rule of play. A player who 
simply follows rule, and fails to grasp the situations 
in which rule should be departed from, is a mere 
machine without intelligence. General principles 
only ai)ply to the general case; to apply them to 
particular cases, observation, inference, and judgment 
are essential. Thus, in the Analysis of Leads, it 
appears that the card which should be led in trumps 
often differs from the card which should be led in 
plain suits. The reason is given at p. 142. But it 
will be clear to any one who reads between the lines, 
that plain suits should be led like trumps, if all the 
remaining trumps are in the leader's or his partner's 
hands ; or, if all the trumps are out, and the leader 
or his partner has certain cards of re-entry in other 
suits. 

As another example, take the case of returned leads. 
A leads a small card ; the second hand plays a small 
card; B (third hand) puts on the eight; the fourth 
hand wins with the queen. When B gets the lead he 
returns the knave. It is evident that B must have 
the ten and the nine. Here two principles appear 



164 



WHIST 



to conflict. One rule is, with four originally return 
the smallest ; the other rule is, convey information 
to your partner. When a player has thus to choose 
between two rules, he must use his intelligence, in 
order to decide under which rule his greater advant- 
age lies. In the example given, the return of the 
knave cannot deceive partner as to the number of 
cards held in the suit; if he takes the trouble to 
think, he will at once perceive that the rule as to re- 
turned leads has been departed from, in order to con- 
vey information. 



WHIST 



165 



The three following Examples further illustrate 
cases where playing to the board is involved. 



CASE I 













M 




4. 4» 
4^ 4. 




4 4- 


Y \ 


♦ ♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ 




■■■■■ 


4^ 4- 


^1 






4* 4* 
4- 4* 


4» 4» 4» 
4. 4. 

4» 4» 4» 






*44-4 


4* 4* 
4. 4. 4^ 














♦ ♦ 




4. 4. 
4- 4- 




♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ 







Score : AB, three ; YZ, four. Spades trumps. 

AB have six tricks and have played two by honours. 
It is known from the fall of the cards that A has no 
trump; also that Z has the long diamond. A to 
lead. 

The Play and Remarks. — -A leads a small club. 
Y puts on the ace second hand. In order to save 



166 



WHIST 



(and win) the game, Y and his partner must win 
every trick (see statement of score and of fall of the 
cards). Y sees that to do this Z must have two of 
the three remaining trumps. This being so, Z can 
have but one club, and Y therefore puts on the ace of 
clubs second hand. 



CASE n 



❖ 4 



♦ ♦ 

4* ♦ 





♦ ♦ ♦ 



Score : AB want two tricks to save the game. Hearts 
trumps. A to lead. 



WHIST 



167 



A knows Y to have the best heart ; also B to have 
the best diamond and weak spades. 

The Play and Remarks. — A leads the queen of 
spades, and then the losing trump. A takes the only 
chance of winning two tricks. To accomplish this 
Y must hold one spade and one diamond, as will 
appear by placing the unknown cards in any other 
way. A therefore plays on the assumption that 
Y» holds a spade and a diamond in addition to the 
trump which is declared in his hand. 



CASE III 

It is your duty to make the game as easy as possi- 
ble to an uninstructed partner. For example : — You 
lead the king from king, queen, knave, ten, only. 
Suppose the king forces the ace from the second hand. 
You obtain the lead again, and your proper lead is 
the ten, showing you still to hold queen and knave 
(see Analysis of Leads). But Avith an indifferent 
partner, your better second lead is the queen. Not 
only will your ten fail to convey any information to 
him, but as he knows the ten is not the best of the 
suit remaining in, if he has no more he may trump 
it. A moment's reflection should show him that as 
you are marked with the queen, you would not be 
so foolish as to lead the ten unless you had the knave 



168 



WHIST 



also; but this amount of reasoning must not be 
expected from all partners. 

However good your partner may be, you should 
not put him into unnecessary difficulties. For exam- 
ple : 



A 








♦ ♦ 
♦ 




♦ 




♦ ♦ 

♦V ♦ 


B A 








♦ ♦♦♦ 

♦ ♦ 


















^ -t 
^ « 



















Spades trumps. Y can count two hearts, and 

queen, ten of spades in A's hand, and a small spade 
in Z's hand. A to lead. 

The Play and Remarks. — A leads the seven of 
hearts. Y should put on the king, though certain 



WHIST 



169 



of being able to win with the nine. For, if Y wins 
with the nine, he compels Z to play a coup, viz., to 
trump the best heart, in order to get the lead through 
the queen, ten of spades ; but, if Y wins with the 
king and leads the losing heart, it requires no inge- 
nuity on Z's paxt to trump it. 



Coups 

There is no Whist principle which should not be 

occasionally violated, owing to the knowledge of the 
hands derived from inference during the play. Some 
of the more frequent of the cases, where a general rule 
can he given for departing from rule, may advanta- 
geously close this Section. 

LEADING FROM WEAKEST SUIT 

It is advisable in most cases where the game is 
desperate, and where it is clear that your partner 
must be strong in your weak suit to save the game, 
to lead your weakest suit, notwithstanding Principle 1 
(p. 68.) Your partner should finesse deeply in the 
suit you lead him, and should not return it, but, 
actuated by motives similar to yours, should lead his 
weakest suit, in which you should finesse deeply, and 
continue your weak suit, and so on. 

For example : AB (partners) lead trumps. They 
win the first three tricks, and show four by honours, 
and three more trumps remain in A's hand. Conse- 
quently, if AB win another trick, they win the game. 
Y or Z now has the lead for the first time. His lead 
should be from his iveakest suit, on this principle : if his 

170 



WHIST 



171 



partner has not the command of it, or a successfal 
finesse in it, the game is lost. Say Y leads, and Z 
wins the trick. Z should not return Y's lead, but 
should similarly lead his weakest suit. 

TKEATING LONG SriTS LIKE SHORT ONES, AND 
VICE VERSA 

It often happens towards the end of a hand, that 
an unplayed suit, of which the leader holds (say) 
four cards, can only go around twice, e. there may 
be two trumps left in in one of the opponents' hands. 
In such a case, if your suit is headed by queen or 
knave, you should treat it as a suit of two cards only, 
and lead your highest, as this gives the best chance 
of making two tricks in the suit. 

In the reverse case, where a suit can only go round 
once, it is obvious that a small card should be led, 
so as not to tempt partner to finesse. Thus, holding 
queen and one small card of an unplayed suit, which 
you are about to lead, all the opponents' cards but 
one being winning cards, the proper lead is the 
small card. 

There is another case, known as Deschaipelles^ coup^ 
where the proper card to lead is not determined 
by the leader's numerical power in the suit. It 
is this : all the adversaries' and partner's trumps 
are exhausted, and the leader's partner remains with 



172 



WHIST 



an established suit. If the leader (not having any 
of his partner's suit left) is obliged to open a fresh 
suit headed by king, queen, or knave, he should lead 
the highest card, irrespective of the number of cards 
he holds in the suit, that being the best chance of 
subsequently procuring the lead for his partner in 
case his only card of entry in that suit should be an 
honour, not the ace. 

Deschapelles' coup often succeeds in practice, but 
it may generally be defeated by an attentive player. 
When the above-described position of the cards oc- 
curs, the adversary, if he has the ace of the fresh suit 
led, should not put it on first round. The suit will, 
in all probability, be continued with a low card, 
when the third player will most likely be compelled 
to play his highest, which will be taken by the ace ; 
and, having lost the card of re-entry, he never brings 
in his suit, unless he gets the lead in some other way. 

KEFUSING TO WIN THE SECOND EOUND OF 
A SUIT 

This is a case of by no means infrequent occur- 
rence. For example : one of the adversaries has a 
long suit declared in his favour, which is led a sec- 
ond time. Only one trump remains in, which is in 
the hand of the second or fourth player. As a rule, 
the second round of the suit should not be trumped. 



WHIST 



173 



The third round will probably exhaust the adverse 
hand, which is numerically weak in the suit. If it 
so happens that the player who is numerically 
strong in it has no card of re-entry in any other suit, 
he will then never bring in his long suit, as his 
partner, whose hand is exhausted, cannot lead it 
again, should he get the lead after the third round. 
If there is a card of re-entry in the hand of the 
player who has numerical strength, he must bring 
in the suit, whether the second round is trumped 
or not. 

A similar rule applies, but less frequently, when 
one adversary has the long trumps, and his partner 
a long suit nearly established. 

DECLINING TO DEAW THE LOSING TEUMP 

When all the trumps are out but two, and the 
leader remains with the best trump, the losing trump 
being in the hand of his adversary, the natural and 
obvious play is to draw the last trump. 

But there is a class of cases in which the trump 
should not be drawn as a matter of course, viz., if one 
adversary has a long suit established, and his partner 
has a card of that suit to lead. 

The case usually happens in this way : YZ (part- 
ners) lead a suit, and after two rounds establish it. 
They then lead trumps from a suit of four trumps 



174 



WHIST 



(see p. 146). Eleven trumps come out, and A (YZ's 
adversary) has the lead and the best trump, one of 
the opponents having the losing trump. The ques- 
tion then arises, Should A draw the trump ? 

A should draw the trump if he has also an estab- 
lished suit ; or, if B (A's partner) has an established 
suit, and A can put the lead into B's hand. For, in 
these two cases, A or B cannot do better than bring 
in their suit. Again, A should draw the trump, if 
the adversary who has a suit established (say Z) has 
also the losing trump, for then, if either Y or Z has 
a car-d of re-entry in either of the other two suits, Z 
cannot be prevented from bringing in his established 
suit. Lastly, A should draw the trump if Y (Z's 
partner) has the losing trump, and Z has, declared 
in his hand, two cards of re-entry. The last case may 
be dismissed as of but little practical use, as, at the 
time when A has to decide whether he will draw the 
trump, he will seldom know enough about the 
remaining cards to be positive that Z has two cards 
of re-entry. 

In the above cases. A, by not drawing the trump, 
makes his adversaries a present of a trick. 

On the other hand, A should not draw the trump 
if one opponent (Z) has an established suit, which Y 
(Z's partner) can lead, the losing trump being in Y's 



WHIST 



175 



hand. And, it is especially incumbent on A not to 
draw the tramp, if either he or his partner has a suit 
which will probably be established by leading it, and 
if A can infer from the fall of the cards that Y has 
only one card of his partner's established suit in his 
hand, subject, of course, to the qualifications already 
noted. 

The point aimed at in not drawing the trump is, 
first to get the commanding card of A's or B's long 
suit out of the adverse hand. Y or Z thus obtains the 
lead, and continues the established suit, which A 
trumps with the winning trump. If, now, Z has no 
card of re-entry in the fourth — or unopened — suit, he 
never brings in his established suit, Y not having 
another card of it to lead. 

EEFUSING TO OVERTRUMP 

Cases often happen where it is not advisable to 
overtrump. Most of these depend on the fall of the 
cards and on inferences from the play and cannot 
be generalized. But there is one case in which it is 
never right to overtrump, viz., when three cards re- 
main in each hand, and one player holds the second 
and third best trumps, with one of which he trumps 
the card led. If the player to his left has the best 
and fourth best trumps, he can never gain anything 



176 



WHIST 



by overtrumping, and may lose a trick, as the follow- 
ing example shows : 





■ 








1 







R 




9^9^>9 












) 




- ♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦ 



























The position of the trumps (spades) is known. A 
leads a heart, B trumps it. If Z overtrumps he loses 
the other two tricks, but if he throws the ace of dia- 
monds he wins the other two tricks. 

This rule for not overtrumping cannot be laid 
down absolutely when there are more than three 
cards in hand ; but when only four trumps remain 
in, second and third best against best and fourth, it 



WHIST 



177 



is so frequently advisable not to overtrump, that the 
player should consider well the position of the 
remaining cards before overtrumping. 

Since it is so often right not to overtrump under 
these circumstances, it follows that ' when the case 
arises the player who holds second and third best 
should, as a rule, attempt to defeat the coup by 
playing a false card — i. e., he should trump with 
the higher card in hopes of deceiving his left- 
hand opponent as to the position of the third best 
trump. 

THROWING HIGH CARDS TO PLACE THE LEAD 

This coup presents itself in a variety of forms. The 
simplest position is this. All the trumps are out, 
and you remain with a small card of a suit of which 
the best is declared against (say diamonds). You 
also have queen and a small spade (ace being already 
played), and you require two tricks out of three to 
save the game. An adversary, who is marked with 
more than one spade, leads king of spades. Your 
only chance of two tricks is to throw the queen of 
spades on the king. 

Whenever you are left at the end of a hand 
with the tenace in trumps (either best and third 
best, or second best guarded) over the player to 
your right and two other cards, both being cards 
12 



178 



WHIST 



of the suit led by him, you, second hand, should 
always throw the highest card of his lead to that 
trick. You can never lose by so doing, and may 
win. For example : you have nine and five of the 
suit led. Throw the nine. For, in the second round 
of the suit, it may so hapj^en that you get the lead 
with the nine. If the cards lie thus, for instance : — • 





m 








♦ ♦ 




♦ ♦ 




















B 

Y 2 


















►j» »!• >}• 

4- 4* 
4* 4* 4* 






4^ 

4'4'4*4' 


4* 4- 4- 










4 




4» 4» 











Y has the tenace in hearts (trumps) over A. A 
leads ace of clubs. If Y does not throw the nine, 
and Z plays carelessly and fails to win Y's nine \x\ 



WHIST 



179 



the next round, YZ lose a trick. Of course, Z ought 
to win the second round, but it is Y's duty to render 
it impossible for Z not to do so {see Remarks on 
Making it Easy to Partner, p. 166). 

The typical example of this coup is the case where 
the leader plays the ace, and the second player has 
king guarded, as in the following example : — 





Y Z 
A 


♦ ♦ 





























Spades trumps. There are only four spades in, 
and Y knows that A has the king, ten. B's and Z's 
cards are immaterial. 

A leads the ace of diamonds. If Y plays the two 
of diamonds he can only make two tricks ; but, if 
he throws the king to the ace, he still makes two 



180. 



WHIST 



tricks, and, if his partner has the queen of diamonds, 

he makes three tricks. 

The following fine coup (which occurred in actual 
play) exemplifies a similar, but more complicated, 
case :— 











4* 





4. 4. 

» 4- 



4. 4. 
4. 4. 
4. 4. 



4*^4* 

-^.4» 

4. "^4, 



*4.* 
4. 4, 

4,^4. 




^ <<< 



4* 4*- 
4^ 4, 



Score : YZ require every trick. Hearts trumps. It 
is known that the trumps lie between B and Z. 

A leads a club ; Y and B play small clubs. Z, 
knowing that B holds the second-best trump guarded, 
takes the only chance of saving the game, by win- 



WHIST 



181 



ning the first trick in clubs with the ace, and return- 
ing the queen. Y, seeing his partner's anxiety to get 
rid of the lead, rightly conjectures him to hold the 
major tenace in trumps. He, therefore, Avins his 
partner's queen of clubs with the king, and saves the 
game. 

It being known that the remaining trumps lie 
between B and Z, Y would be right to win the second 
round of clubs under all circumstances of the score. 

On a similar principle, the leader not infrequently 
leads a losing plain card, or a losing trump, at the end 
of a hand in order to place the lead. For illustra- 
tion see Case II, p. 166. 

THE GRAND COUP 

The Grand Coup consists in throwing away a su- 
perfluous trump. At the first glance it appears im- 
possible to have a superabundance of trumps ; but 
cases sometimes happen where a player has a trump 
too many. To get rid of this trump — as by under- 
trumping a trick already trumped by your partner, 
or by trumping a trick which he has won, or which 
you know he may win — is to play the grand coup. 

The opportunity for playing the grand coup gene- 
rally happens in this way. Two rounds of trumps 
come out, leaving five trumps in, two in the hand of 
(say) B, and three in the hand of Z (the player to 



182 



WHIST 



his left). If B has the best and the third best trumps, 
or the second best guarded, and trumps are not led 
again, nor used for trumping, it is clear that at the 
eleventh trick Z must obtain the lead, and must lead 
up to the tenace in trumps. If, before the eleventh 
trick, Z trumps a trick of his partner's (or, in the 
case of only seven trumps coming out in two rounds, 
undertrumps a trick already trumped by his partner), 
and the lead at the eleventh trick can thus be kej^t 
in — or put into — Z's partner's hand, the grand coup 
comes off, as in the following example : 





4.^4. 

4.*4. 




V 




♦ ♦ 
♦ 

♦ 4 




♦ 
♦ 




4. 4, 4- 

4^ 4. 4< 


^ B 

Y 2 

V A 




P > > 








» > 


•I* »!• .|» »}• 
4* 

*J* *^ "i* *1* 








^ 4» 
















♦ ♦ 





WHIST 



183 



Clubs trumps. Z knows that B has ten and an- 
other trump. A leads the ten of diamonds ; Y trumps 
with the six of clubs ; Z undertrumps with the five. 
If he retains his three trumps, and B refuses to 
trump the queen of spades next led by Y, Z loses a 
trick in clubs. 









9 ¥ 








♦ ♦ 
♦ 

♦ ♦ 






B 

Y 2 
A 










♦ ♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦ 






> 


♦ ♦♦♦ 

♦ 

^^^^ 








♦ ♦ ♦ 
♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ ♦ 


































♦ ♦ 




♦ ♦ 





The opportunity for playing the grand coup is often 
missed. A plaj'er should always be on the look-out 
for it when he has five trumps, especially if a trump 
is led to his right. It should be added also, that if 



184 



WHIST 



the player who attempts it retains a high card in his 
hand, he may be just as badly off as though he re- 
mained with three trumps. Thus, holding three 
trumps against two, and ace and another card of 
another suit, it is not sufficient that he disposes 
of one of his trumps; he should also get rid 
of his ace (see Remarks on Throwing High Cards 
to Place the Lead, pp. 177-181). (See hand, p. 
183.) 

Hearts trumps. B has already got rid of his 
superfluous trump. A leads the eight of clubs. B 
should throw the ace of diamonds to it. For, if B 
has the lead after the next trick, he might just as 
well have kept his third trump. If A has the king 
of diamonds, B wins a trick by discarding the ace*, 
and, if A has not the king, B loses nothing by throw- 
ing the ace. 

An exception to this rule is when A has winning 
cards to go on with. Thus, if A had another club, 
B need not discard the ace of diamonds. This is too 
obvious to require working out. 

The following is another aspect under which the 
grand coup may present itself (See hand, p. 184.) 

Hearts trumps. It is known that B has king, 
queen, knave of trumps, and a losing spade or club — 
but uncertain which. 



WHIST 



185 



A leads the knave of diamonds. B trumps it. 

Z should throw away a small trump, undertrump^ 
ing B in order to keep two winning queens. If he 
discards a queen, he must do so at random, and per- 
haps throw away the suit of which B has the small 





<* 








m 
m 






i 




B 

Y Z 

A 








♦ ♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ ♦ 


< 






♦ ♦♦♦ 

♦ 

♦ ♦ 


4 < 






•1- 4, ^ 
4- 4- 










♦ ^4 




♦ ♦ 




♦ ♦ 





one. By discarding his useless trump (which B 
would proceed to draw) he defers parting with either 
queen till after the next round, when the fall of the 
cards may assist him. B now leads a trump, and Y 
discards the losing club. B then leads another 



186 



WHIST 



trump, and Z now knows that he ought to keep the 
spade. This case actually occurred in the presence 
of the writer, but Z, instead of undertrumping, dis- 
carded the wrong queen at random, and eventually 
lost the rubber in consequence. 



If the foregoing principles are reflectively perused, 
it will be seen that they mould the Theory of Whist 
into a harmonious whole. The Theory of Whist tells 
you how to play your own hand to the greatest ad- 
vantage, how to assist your partner, and how to 
weaken and to obstruct your opponents ; in short, it 
teaches how to take the best chance of making the 
greatest number of tricks. This knowledge consti- 
tutes a sound player. If to theoretical perfection you 
add the power of accurate observation, and acute 
perception, together with a thorough comprehension 
of the Whist capacities of partners and of oj^ponents, 
you have all the elements necessary to form a Master 
of the Science. 



ETIQUETTE 

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